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The Revolutionary History 

OF 

Fort Number Eight 



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THE 



Revolutionary History 



■OF 



Fort Number Eight 



MORRIS HEIGHTS, NEW YORK CITY 



BY / 

/ 

JOHN CHRISTOPHER SCHWAB 




PRIVATELY PRINTED 

1897 

NEW HAVEN, CONN. 






THE TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE d TAYLOR PRESS. 



The Manor of FordhAm 

AND 

The Archer Family. 



The Manor of Fordham, consisting of 1,253 acres, was part 
of the Indian lands known as Kekeshick or Keskeskick, bor- 
dering on the Harlem River, and was owned by the sachems 
Feequeraeck, Rechgawar and Packanmans, who conveyed it — 
the first sale of land by the Indians in Westchester County — 
to the Dutch West India Company ( " de HoUandsche Westin- 
dische Compagnie") in 1639, thirteen years after the settle- 
ment of New Amsterdam.' 

Adriaeu Van der Donck, the first lawyer who came to New 
Netherland, owned Fordham and Yonkers as Patroon, by pur- 
chase from the company on August 3, 1646.' He built his 
house on the present Van Cortlandt Parade Ground, and also 
a saw-mill in the so-called "Saw-Mill" or "Saw Kill Val- 
ley," and died in 1665. Yonkers is named after him (Jonk- 
heer)." His widow, Mary, married Hugh O'Neale of Mary- 
land, and deeded part of the manor to her brother-in-law, 
Elias Doughty, on October 30, 1666, some weeks after Gover- 
nor Nichols had confirmed Hugh and Mary's title to their 
land. Van der Donck' s purchase having been made under 
the Dutch regime before 1664. One part of the manor she 
sold to John Archer on March i, 1667, and another part, 
described as eighty acres upland and thirty meadow land, to 
the same Archer on September 18, 1667/ 

On application to the English government, letters patent 
were issued to John Archer on November 13, 1671. He was 
to pay a customary annual quit rent, to consist of twenty 
bushels of good pears. The document describes the tradl of 
land as lying to the eastward of Harlem River "where ye 
new dorp or village is erected known by the name of Ford- 
ham."' 



The Archer family was of English origin, the name going 
back to the time of the Crusades. Kiilbert 1' Archer is men- 
tioned as having emigrated to England with William the Con- 
queror. Some six hundred years later John Archer pushed 
on from Warwickshire to the new world, settling in Westches- 
ter County about 1654.* Having purchased the Manor of 
Fordham, he became its " landheer," and evidently made full 
use of the authority granted him, for when in 1673 the Dutch 
dominion over New York was for a short time restored, the 
inhabitants of Fordham petitioned the government for relief 
from the harsh treatment of their lord.' 

A few years later, in November, 1676, John Archer got into 
difficulties of another kind, and mortgaged his land to the 
wealthy Mynheer Cornelius Steenwyck to secure a loan of 
24,000 guilders seawant. The loan was not paid, and John 
Archer forfeited the manor to Steenwyck, or rather to his 
widow, on October 16, 1685." She married again, and with 
her second husband. Dominie Henricus Selyns, conveyed the 
land on Januar}' 10, 1694, to Colonel Nicholas Bayard, Cap- 
tain Isaac Vermilyee, Jacob Rockloysen and John Harpendick, 
overseers of the Dutch Reformed Church, which was fully 
organized in Fordham by the Collegiate Dutch Church of New * 
York (which still exists) on May 11, 1696, and built a 
church north of the present road to Fordham Lauding on the 
land of Mr. Moses Devoe — the Dutch Presbyterians (Dutch 
Reformed) were most numerous in Westchester County at the 
time.* 

Half a centur}' later, in December, 1753, this church was 
authorized to and did sell one hundred and eight acres of its 
land to Daniel Seacord (or Sicard) of Yonkers, who twelve 
years later, on October 14, 1766, sold sevent}' acres of the 
tracfl, which included the present site of Fort Number Eight, 
to Benjamin Archer for ^630.'" Thus part of the property 
of the original John Archer passed back to his grandson 
Benjamin, who built the family homestead, known later as 
" Colonel DeLancey's Headquarters," a hundred yards north 
of Mr. G. L. Dashwood's place (the Berkeley Oval)." 

This Benjamin Archer, Senior, and his wife Esther deeded 
half their property' to their son Benjamin, Junior, on P^ebruary 
13, 1769, for ^^330. They left two sons, the above Benjamin 



Junior and John, and two daughters, Sarah and Rachel. The 
former married Jacob CoUard, the latter James Crawford — of 
the latter four only James Crawford could write his name. 
Being provided' with husbands or otherwise, the two sisters 
and John deeded their share of their father's property on April 
12, 1786, to their eldest brother Benjamin." In 1807 (Decem- 
ber 12) this Benjamin Archer, Junior, died, and diredled in his 
will that his land should be divided between his two sons, 
William and Samuel D. , when the latter came of age, which 
was accordingly done in 181 7. The third son and the daugh- 
ters received legacies of money and some feather beds. The 
older brother again increased his talents by acquiring Samuel 
D.'s land on October 29, 1835.'' His home was east of the 
Croton Aqueduct opposite the entrance to Mr. Mali's place. 
On March 17, 1857, he sold 7 and 951/1000 acres of it through 
Mr. James Punnett to Catherine Elizabeth, wife of the late 
Mr. Gustav Schwab." The Archer family moved to near 
New Rochelle, where the}^ still are to be found. 

To return to the earlier historj^ of the Archers : As was the 
case in many American families when the Revolution broke 
out, the Archers were divided in their allegiance to King 
George and to the American cause. Caleb and Gabriel Archer 
signed the declaration to support the King at the White Plains 
Convention of April 13, 1775." Among the other signers 
were Levi Devoe and such familiar names as Purdy and Valen- 
tine. In the following year the I^oyalist Declaration of Octo- 
ber 16, 1776, was signed by John Archer. He was in good 
company, for with him were the Rev. Dr. S. Auchmuty and 
Rev. Charles Inglis of Trinity Church, later Bishop of Nova 
Scotia, Samuel Bayard, Colonel William Bayard, Henry Bre- 
voort, James Des Brosses, Alexander Leslie, headmaster of 
King's College (now Columbia University), Frederic Rhine- 
lander, Leonard Lispenard and Augt Van Cortlandt.'" The 
Archer we are particularly interested in, however, namely 
Benjamin Junior, joined the "rebel" army as a private in a 
company organized in West Farms and the Manor of Fordham 
under the command of Captain Nicholas Berrian, a neighbor of 
the Archer family. Archer had signed with others the petition 
to form it as a company of militia on September 5, 1775. The 
lieutenants were Gilbert Taylor and Daniel Devoe ; the ensign, 



— 0— 

Benjamin Valentine. Among the other privates we find Peter 
Bussing, James Archer and some Devoes. Presumably this 
same James Archer ai)pears in 1778 as ensign in Colonel 
Samuel Drake's Third (North or Manor of Van Cortlandt) 
Regiment, and a year later as Second Lieutenant." Other 
Archers, Anthony, Basal and Mathious, were enrolled in a 
Yonkers Company September 15, 1775. It is noticeable that 
they all could write their names on the enlistment rolls, and 
did not put their mark as so many did.'" 

To properly understand the history of the Revolution in 
New York, one must bear in mind that most of the respectable 
and conservative families in and about the city sided with the 
English. Their devotion to the Church of England, their love 
of law and order, and their conservative attachment to the old 
regime, under which they had prospered, were decisive." 
To such L,oyali.sts the destruction of King George's statue on 
Bowling Green on July 9, 1776,"" like the Boston Tea Party, 
were acls of mob violence and vandalism. Peter Elting writes 
to Richard Varick on June 13, 1776 :^' "We had some grand 
Toory Rides in the City this week .... Several of them 
were handled Verry Roughly Being caried trugh the streets 
on Rails, there Cloaths Tore from there becks and their Bodies 
pritty well Mingled with the dust." 

One of the most prominent American families that remained 
loyalist were the DeL,ance5's. Oliver DeLaucey, the brother 
of Lieutenant Governor James DeLancey, was the senior loyal- 
ist officer in the American Revolution. Born in New York 
in 171 7, he died in luigland in 1785. He was the Colonel of 
a New York regiment under Abercrombie, and in 1776 was 
made a brigadier-general in the British army. In 1777 he was 
attainted of treason, and his estates were confiscated by the 
State of New Y^'ork." 

His son Oliver and nephew James were both in the British 
army. Oliver DeLancey, the son, gained a high position. In 
1776 he busied him.self enlisting loyalists. In July, 1778, he 
was made a major, and in 1781 a lieutenant-colonel, succeeding 
Major Andrce as Adjutant-General in that year, and, as such, 
he signed the orders to evacuate New York in March, 1783. 
He died in Edinburgh in 1822.*^ 

The nephew, James DeLancey, organized and commanded 



— 7— 

the famous "Cow-Boys," a corps belonging to the loyalist 
regiment of his inicle Oliver, with headquarters at Morrisania, 
which foraged in the neighborhood for the British garrison in 
New York. He was taken prisoner by the Americans in 1777, 
and spent a while in the Hartford goal. At the end of the 
war his estates were confiscated, and he retired to Nova Scotia 
with many other Tories, where he died in 1800." 

These troops under Colonel James Delyancey played a prom- 
inent part in the incessant skirmishes in southern Westchester 
County (as we shall see). Another regiment of loyalists we 
shall hear of was the First American Regiment, better known 
as the "Queen's Rangers," which had been raised by Robert 
Rogers, a Tory of New Hampshire. ^° These "Rangers" 
were recruited largely from the neighborhood of New York, 
and were put under the command of Colonel J. G. Simcoe by 
General Howe on October 15, 1777. After the war, like the 
other lo5^alist troops, they were transported to Nova Scotia.''" 



NKW YORK AND THE REVOLUTION. 

The city of New York at the outbreak of the Revolution 
had a population of about 25,000, who lived in the closely 
built up southern part of Manhattan Island about Fort George 
(on the site of the present battery), and south of the line 
passing through Reade Street to the East River and Catlicrine 
Street." At the comer of Pearl and Broad Streets stood the 
famous tavern of Samuel Fraunces, the Delmonico of that 
time, originally noted for his excellent pickles and preserves, 
and later as steward of the Presidential mansion.'" The 
Swamp Church (corner of Franklin and North William 
Streets), whose pastor at a later time was Dr. John Christopher 
Kunze, was standing at the time." The Provincial Secre- 
tary's office stood on the western corner of Bowling Green and 
Whitehall Street, on the site of the present office of Oelrichs 
and Company.'" 

Westchester County, which at the time was bounded on the 
south by the Long Island Sound and the Harlem River, is 
described as ' ' in general rough but fertile, and therefore the 
farmers run principally on grazing."" Hence, too, the Brit- 
ish troops found on the farms a convenient supply of food, 
to which they were constantly helping themselves during the 
war, 1776-1783, much to the injury of the inhabitants of that 
section as we shall see.'' King's Bridge, the first, and, until 
Dykeman's (now Farmers') Bridge was built, the only bridge 
connecting Manhattan Island with the main land, was built 
and given its name at the end of the 17th century. The first 
strucfture was of wood, a little east of its present location (per- 
haps on the site of the present foot-bridge)." In 1704 atoll 
of three pence was charged for passing the bridge with a horse. 
To avoid this and similar charges a new bridge was built on 
the site of the present Farmers' Bridge by Jacob Dykeman and 
Johannes Vermilyea, and was named after the former." 

As to the roads in use at the time of the Revolution, there 
is necessarily great uncertainty, owing to the divergence of the 
maps." A comparison of them, however, gives the follow- 
ing probable result as to the main highways : 

From McGowan's Pass (107th Street) and Bloomingdale 



— 9— 

(iigth Street) a road led through Manhattanville (near the 
present St. Mary's Church), between the present lines of 
Amsterdam Avenue and the Boulevard, toward Fort Washing- 
ton (183d Street and Fort Washington Avenue), passing the 
house of Colonel Roger Morris (later the Jumel house) on the 
right, ^° and further on the Blue Bell Tavern, probably on 
the left." From Fort Washington the road descended 
toward Inwood between the heights on which Fort Washing- 
ton and, further north. Fort Try on, were built on the left, and 
I,aurel Hill on the right, on the northern end of which was 
the redoubt known later as Fort George (194th Street, between 
Amsterdam Avenue and the Boulevard). At Inwood, in the 
neighborhood of the present Presbyterian church, the road 
turned to the east, passed near the "Century House,"'* 
and skirted the Harlem River till it reached King's Bridge. 
From there it circled to the right, much as it does now, and 
turned northward along the east bank of the Mosholu Creek 
toward the Van Cortlandt house, and on to Yonkers or Phil- 
lipsburg, as it is generally called, and eventually led to Alban3^ 

A branch of this road crossed the Harlem River over Dyke- 
man's (now Farmers') Bridge, and followed roughly the 
present line of the road up the steep hill, past the present 
Dutch church, through Fordham village and Delancey's Mills 
on the Bronx River (Bronxdale) to Westchester, and finally 
led to Connedlicut. From this road another led to the south 
from near the present Dutch church along the line of what 
was later the MacComb's Dam Road near the English Fort 
Number Eight, and the houses of Benjamin Archer (north of 
the Berkeley Oval) and Colonel Richard Morris, (in the present 
garden of his grandson, Lewis G. Morris), to Morrisania (now 
Mott Haven), and the house of Lewis Morris (still standing 
near the Third Avenue Bridge), from near which a ferry 
(established in 1667) crossed to Harlem and a road led north- 
eastward to Westchester. 

March 17, 1776, the British forces had been starved out of 
Boston by the American troops which surrounded them, and, 
evacuating that town,'" they set sail for Halifax, and thence 
later for New York, where, as we know, they met with better 
success than in Boston, and maintained themselves till the end 
of the war. 



—10-— 

Little had been done to put the city into a state of defence, 
though Abraham Varick writes on March 28, 1775:'° "we 
arc and will be so well fortified as to give them a scrag they 
will not Relish very well." Peter Elting in a letter dated 
September 12, 1776," was much nearer the truth when he 
wrote " the town appears to me to be in a Bad state of de- 
fence." 

As early as January, 1776, General Charles Lee had written 
to General Washington,*' to offer to collecft volunteers in 
New England with which to protedl New York — he foresaw it 
would soon be attacked, — and to annoy the Tories, especially 
on Long Lsland, where they were numerous. It was useless 
to apply to the Congress. By Washington's authority Lee at 
once colledled troops in New England, and started for New 
York from New Haven in the middle of Januar}-^, 1776, report- 
ing to Washington" that Colonel Waterbury had raised a 
regiment of seven hundred men. The approach of the.se 
troops frightened the Colonial authorities in New York, who 
begged Lee to desist, as they did not wish to provoke hostil- 
ities." But Lee continued the movement toward New York 
by way of Rye, New Rochelle and East Chester,*"^ and by 
February, 1776, some New England troops had arrived in New 
York;" "Cornel Water Berry whit about 1,000 men .... 
also 500 minet men from New England." " On the 4 Instant 
in the morning arived General Clinton .... the same day 
arived Generel Lee Whit 300 men it is imbosseble to Describ 
the convusen that this city was in on account of the Rcgelers 
Being Com." On February 7, 1776, General Sterling arrived 
with 1,000 men from New Jersey. 

So far no attempt had been made to fortif)' New York. 
General Lee at once drew up plans for fortifications about Hell 
Gate,*' and barricades on the streets, especially one on 
Broadway, two hundred yards north of Bowling Green,** 
and for strong redoubts about King's Bridge, which he as well 
as Generals Heath and Greene thought of the utmost import- 
ance.*' Many of the cannon were taken from Fort George 
(the Battery) and carried to King's Bridge, but were found 
useless. There was a great lack of men to build these fortifi- 
cations — only 1,700 men composed the garrison of New York 
on February 29, 1776,'"' the terms of enlistment of most of 



—11— 

them were about to expire, and the Congress seemed unable or 
unwilling to help matters. 

General Heath found works being eredled in and about New 
York on his arrival at the end of March, 1776 — the Westches- 
ter minute men had been building redoubts to command Hell 
Gate. Soon after. Generals Putnam and Sullivan arrived, and 
on April 13, Generals Washington and Gates, followed by- 
General Greene with his brigade. The construdlion of works 
was hurried on, as it was corredlly surmised that the British 
would soon turn their attention to New York."*' L,ittle, 
however, was accomplished before the arrival of the British in 
July, when Fort Washington was hastily eredled. 

On June 3, 1776, the tardy Congress, which had been warned 
by General L,ee four months before, realized that New York 
would be the next point of attack, and decided to reinforce 
the city with 13,800 militia troops from Pennsylvania, Dela- 
ware and Maryland." These soon began to arrive, the 
Pennsylvania troops under General Thomas Mifflin, who is 
described as a " bustler " by Major Alexander Graydon, his 
Aide.^^ Of these Pennsylvania troops the Third battalion 
was commanded by Colonel John Shee. I,ater, in September, 
1776, he was on furlough, and lyieutenant-Colonel Cadwal- 
lader took command." The Fifth Pennsylvania battalion 
was commanded by Colonel Robert Magaw, whom we shall 
meet again as the commandant of Fort Washington ('^). A 
non-commissioned officer in this battalion, Christopher Weiser, 
Sergeant in Captain Peter Dickey's Company, interests us. 
After the war he resided in Buffalo township, Union County, 
Pennsylvania (in 1792).^' These raw and undiscipined 
troops were mostly recruited from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, 
Delaware and Maryland under officers chiefly from Philadel- 
phia. They reached New York, June 20 to 25, 1776," 
and were drilled hard during the hot summer about their head- 
quarters at Fort Washington, which they were building ; 
occasionally short marches were made into Westchester County, 
presumably to replenish their larder. " We learn from Gray- 
don's Memoirs" that of seventy-three of the Pennsylvania 
troops, forty-five were natives, twenty were from Ireland, four 
from England and two from Scotland. General Heath tells 
us :*" " They had the appearance of fine troops." 



—12— 

Beside the Pennsylvania troops under General Mifflin, two 
Massachusetts regiments reached New York during July and 
August, 1776. One, under Colonel John Glover, left Boston 
on July 20 and reached New York August 9 ; the other, as 
we learn from David How's Diary, left Boston July 18 and 
reached New York August 27, 1776." 

Six Connecticut regiments arrived in New York about the 
same time, one of which joined Mifflin's command. They are 
described in a contemporary Connecticut newspaper as "an 
exceeding fine Body of Men, well equipped and disciplined."" 

General Charles Lee, in writing to Edmund Burke in 1774, 
also mentioned the soldierly bearing of the New England 
militia, a recent development, he thinks." This did not 
prevent the soldiers from other sections looking down upon 
those from New England, traces of which feeling are frequent." 

New York itself furnished, of course, its quota of defenders. 
Peter Elting writes on July 30, 1776:" " Verry few of the 
inhabitents Remain in town that are not ingaged in the Ser- 
vice." John Varick in a letter dated June 25, 1776"' claims 
that one quarter of the citizens have turned out as volunteers 
or by draught. All males between sixteen and sixty years old 
were subjedl to the draft."' Colonel Lasser figures as the 
colonel of the First New York Independent Foot Company." 
Colonel Drake's Westchester Minute Men — one hundred and 
eleven privates, nineteen commissioned, and twenty non- 
commissioned officers — were also on hand to help strengthen 
the city's defences."" 

The strongest of these fortifications in and about the city 
was Fort Washington," which was built under the direc- 
tion of Colonel Rufus Putnam by the above Pennsylvania 
troops on their arrival, and was intended, together with Fort 
Lee (or Constitution) on the opposite shore of the river, to 
command the Hudson and prevent the British ascending and 
cutting off the Americans' connection with New England." 
The work of building the fort proceeded slowly, for by August 
18, 1776, no cannon were mounted there.'' Graydon, whose 
battalion served under Colonel Cadwallader, complains that 
the fort's position was a weak one. It had no water, no 
ditch, and there was higher ground near by.'' 

Other American fortifications built at this time were earth- 



—13— 

works — later called Fort Tryon — on the northern end of the 
ridge on which Fort Washington was situated (between 195th 
and 198th Streets), and overlooking Inwood." On lyaurel 
Hill, overlooking the Harlem River, was also erected a redoubt, 
later called Fort George by the British," The earthworks 
were still extant in 1890, but have now been effaced by a 
resort called " Fort George Park." Below on the King's 
Bridge Road a strong four-gun battery was built.''" On the 
northern end of the ridge on Manhattan Island was built Cock 
Hill Fort, and a series of redoubts, numbered one, two and 
three, on the slope north of Spuyten Duyvil Creek, on the 
site of the old Indian fortress Nipinicksen." 

At the suggestion of Generals Heath and Greene, and under 
the direction of Colonel Rufus Putnam, the chief engineer of 
the American army. Fort Independence was built by two 
battalions of Pennsylvania troops and some militia. It is still 
standing on the site of Mr. W. O. Giles' house (once the 
residence of Mr. D. ly. Turner), west of Sedgwick Avenue and 
near the entrance to Van Cortlandt Park. Some cannon still 
remain there.'" It is noticeable that the then owner of the 
place. General Richard Montgomery, was not paid for his land, 
and his executor in 1788 petitioned for reimbursement.''' 

To insure Fort Washington's control of the Hudson, 
obstructions were placed in the river between that fort and 
Fort I^ee. But to no purpose ; for when the British arrived, 
two of their ships with three tenders forced their way up the 
river on July 12, 1776, to Tappan Bay, exchanging shots 
with the American forts.'" Three months before two English 
men-of-war had appeared in New York harbor, but had kept 
out of range of the American guns.'' 

The British fleet, in fact, had been sighted on June 25, 1776, 
had anchored at Sandy Flook on June 28 and 29, and 
debarked their troops on Staten Island on July 2 and 3.*' 
General Howe, the commander-in-chief of the expedition, 
arrived some days later in the man-of-war ' ' Eagle ' ' (which 
ship we shall meet again), and established himself on Staten 
Island on July 12.'^ 

Sir William Howe was born August 10, 1729, and served 
under General Wolfe at Quebec in 1759. He distinguished 
himself in this New York campaign — he was made a Knight of 



the Bath — returned to England before the end of the war, and 
died July 12, 1814." 

In the campaign before us General Howe comraanded the 
i6th and 17th Regiments of Dragoons, 1,105 footguards, 
twenty-three regiments of ten companies each, the 42d or 
Royal Highlanders, the 71st or Frazer's Battalion, six com- 
panies of artillery, six battalions of marines, and the Hessian 
infantry and artillery which arrived later, a total force of 
33,614."'' Opposed to them in and about New York were 
General Washington's troops, numbering perhaps 23,000 men/* 

After a seven weeks' stay on Staten Island, the British 
crossed to Long Island, landed near Gravesend Bay on August 

22, and prepared for the battle of the following week." 

In the meantime the Americans had been aroused to realiz- 
ing the dangers the city was in. On August 8, General 
Clinton was ordered to make new levies in Dutchess, Orange, 
Ulster and Westchester Counties, to proceed at once to 
strengthen the fortifications about King's Bridge, and to pre- 
vent the British occupying those positions in the rear of the 
American army and cutting off its communication with 
Albany.'" A week later seven hundred men had been collc(5led 
in those posts."'' On August 17, General Washington put 
General Heath — who had been made a major-general by Con- 
gress a week before — in command of the troops at the north 
end of the island, specifically including those in Fort Washing- 
ton and Fort Independence, " and a number of other works " 
(described above),"" which he was familiar with from per- 
sonal observation. 

General Heath at once took command with headquarters at 
King's Bridge, from where he writes to Washington on August 

23, advising the building of a floating bridge across the 
Harlem River. He was also busy reconnoitering, and obtained 
Lieutenant Preston from General H. Knox to superintend the 
mounting of guns at his post."' 

William Heath, from whose memoirs we learn much about 
the military movements in Westchester County during the 
following years, came of an old familj^ in Roxbury, Mass. 
February 9, 1775, he was appointed a general ofl[icer by the 
Congress. Three days after the evacuation of Boston, on 
March 10, 1776, he left for New York, reaching the city ten 



—15— 

days later, and soon after was inoculated with smallpox, and 
spent a month on Montresor's (now Randall's) Island, "where 
he went through the operation of that distemper.""' 

On Tuesday, August 27, 1776, the battle of Long Island 
was fought, the detailed story of which British victory need 
not here be recited." It was followed two days later by 
General Washington's masterly withdrawal of his troops across 
the East River to New York."' For the purpose, General 
Heath had sent him all the boats he could spare from Fort 
Washington and King's Bridge on the day before."'* The 
evacuation of Long Island was at once followed by that of 
Governor's Island." 

For some weeks, then, the British army remained inadlive, 
while the Americans were busA' strengthening their fort iifi ca- 
tions at the northern end of Manhattan Island. Troops recon- 
noitered the Westchester shore of the Sound to the eastward 
of Morrisania (Mott Haven), watching the movements of the 
British on that water. Others were massed in Fort Washing- 
ton. The works along the East River and at Horn's Hook 
were strengthened." Reinforcements were asked of the 
New York Convention for King's Bridge, and a week later 
some Maryland troops were sent there — barracks had been 
hastily built — to join the brigades of Generals Mifflin and 
George Clinton, already stationed at King's Bridge.^" The 
brigades of Generals Parsons, Scott, Clinton, Fellows, and 
G. S. Silliman (of Connecticut, father of Professor Benjamin 
Silliman of Yale College) had been assigned to duty in New 
York after the battle of Long Island." 

Colonel Putnam examined the position of the Americans 
and reported them to General Washington on September 3, 
1776, as scattered from New York to King's Bridge. He did 
not think the English could be prevented from landing in New 
York.'"" General Heath, however, thought the American 
works both numerous and strong."' Graydon, in his Diary, 
sides with Colonel Putnam, and even bets a beaver hat that no 
attempt will be made to defend New York."' 

On September 8, 1776, General Washington issued orders to 
strengthen the works about King's Bridge, and stationed 9,000 
men at the northern end of the island, 5,000 in the city, and 
the rest of the army between those two points. He evidently 



—10— 

still believed a stand might be made against the enemies' 
advance, and relied on the strength of the works from Fort 
Washington to King's Bridge and the possibility of obstrudl- 
ing the Hudson River.'" These plans General Washington 
had no doubt perfe(5led while dining a few days before with 
General Heath at the latter's quarters at King's Bridge,'"* 
for General Heath leaned strongly to defending the city at any 
cost.'" 

The British slowly made preparations to invest the city. 
On the day of the battle of Long Island they had sent two 
ships into Long Island Sound, and, anchoring off Throg's 
Neck (often misnamed Frog's Neck) had reconnoitered the 
neighborhood, and, as was their custom, helped themselves to 
any cattle they found."" Iramediatelj^ upon General Wash- 
ington's retreat from Long Island they pushed up the East 
River, and were seen in large numbers at the mouth of the 
Harlem River.'"' Two of their men-of-war were discovered 
on September 2, 1776, at anchor between "Throg's Point" 
and the New City (City Island), their crews, as usual, pillag- 
ing on shore."" A week later they came to closer quarters, 
and, after reconnoitering the waters about Hell Gate, they 
bombarded the American redoubts at Horen's Hook from their 
works on Long Island.""' 

Finally, the British, on September 11, 1776, effected a land- 
ing on Montresor's (now Randall's) Island, also on Buchanan's 
(now Ward's) Island,'"' and on the Two Brothers' Islands in 
sight of the American troops on the Morrisania shore, ordered 
there to prevent the British landing on the main land.'" In 
the words of a contemporary chronicler, "Tusday September 
ye loth to Day the Regulars Landed about 6,000 on one of the 
Islands Caled the two Brothers.""'' Washington at once 
reported this movement to the Congress, and suggested that 
nothing could now prevent the enemj^'s landing in Harlem or 
on the main land and attacking him in the rear of the King's 
Bridge works."' He decided in a council of war, held on 
September 12, to evacuate the city and escape with his army 
to the north.'" The valuable stores in the city had already 
been removed on September 10.'" 

"Thirsday September ye 1 2th .... orders for all the sick 
to move out to King's Bridg Likewise all the Tems Employed 



—17— 

in giting our war-like Stors out of Town.""" On Septem- 
ber 14 the stores were sent up by the Bloomingdale and 
King's Bridge Roads to King's Bridge, and on the next day 
about eight o'clock "the Brigades in ginrel ware ordered to 
retreat out of town.""^ The main body marched toward 
Fort Washington and King's Bridge ; a rear guard of 4,000 
followed, Washington establishing his headquarters at Colonel 
Roger Morris's (later the Jumel) house. "^ 

This general retreat of the Americans to the northern part 
of Manhattan Island was made necessary by the British forces 
landing on the island and threatening to surround the Ameri- 
cans in the southern end. As was expedled, the British con- 
centrated their forces on the East River, and about noon on 
the 15th of September they easily effected a landing with five 
shiploads of 4,000 men at Turtle and Kepp's Bay (34th Street 
and East River), some three miles north of the city,"" the 
Americans hastily abandoning their works in that neighbor- 
hood and retreating to the north of the island, a few even 
crossing into New Jersey/" It is said General Putnam's 
troops escaped northward from the citj^ while the British 
ofiicers were being refreshed at Mrs. Robert Murray's house 
(on Murray Hill).'" After landing, the British drew up 
their lines across the island between Horen's Hook (near 89th 
Street and East River) and Bloomingdale, facing northward.'" 
General Howe established his headquarters in Mr. Apthorpe's 
house'^^ (91st Street and 9th Avenue), later a resort known 
as "Elm Park," and recentl)^ moved to the site of Fort 
George, opposite Fort Number Eight. Outposts were 

stationed on the heights from MacGowan's Pass along what is 
now Morningside Heights to the present site of Columbia 
University, and that of the Clairmont Hotel and General 
Grant's tomb. Near MacGowan's Pass in and about the stone 
blockhouse still standing in Central Park, Count Donop and 
his German troops were stationed. The British army under 
General Earl Cornwallis lay in the rear.'" 

On the following day, Monday, September 16, 1776, a little 
before noon occurred a skirmish between a party of Hessian 
Jagers, British Light Infantry and Highlanders on the one, 
and some American riflemen and others on the other side. 
The result was not decisive, at least the British did not 



—18— 

carry the American position.'" In How's Diary we read :'" 
" Some part of our army had a Smart fight with tlie enimy in 
Harlem woods." The site of this so-called " battle of Harlem " 
has been confused by a commemorative tablet having been 
placed on the walls of Trinity Cemetery, a mile and more from 
the adlual scene of the engagement. 

The Briti.sh troops were stationed as described above ; the 
Americans, chiefly .some Connecflicut light troops, known as 
the " Rangers," under lyieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowlton 
(who fell in the engagement), and Colonel Weeden's Virginia 
regiment, were stationed on the southern .slope of the rising 
ground north of Manhattanville, or to be exa(5l at about 130th 
Street and the Boulevard (a few steps from the present St. 
Mary's Church).'" The battle began by the above Ameri- 
can troops attacking the British flanks opposite them near 
General Grant's tomb, Washington direcfting their movements 
from his position in the grounds of the present Sacred Heart 
Convent (at one time the residence of Mr. Jacob Lorillard's 
family)."" The Americans drove the enemy back through 
the fields toward their main body. A stubborn resistance was 
offered by them in a buckwheat field on the present site of 
Columbia University, near what was later the residence of 
Mr. Caspar Meier. Finally, reinforcements, chiefly Hessian, 
were hurriedly summoned, and the Americans retired to their 
former position back of the present St. Mary's Church.'" 

The success of the Americans in this skirmi.sh at Blooming- 
dale strengthened their belief that the works at the northern 
end of Manhattan Island could withstand the British, and, on 
the part of the latter, it convinced them that, in preference to 
a dire(5t assault upon those scattered works from the south, 
which might have been repulsed,'^" a flank movement by 
way of Long Island Sound and Westchester County would be 
more feasible and less costly. This movement was, as we 
shall .see, carried out a little less than four weeks later. 

This delay afforded the Americans time to still further 
fortify themselves on the heights north of Manhattanville and 
at Fort Washington,'^' and on the strong grounds about 
King's Bridge, '" where they hoped to fix their winter quar- 
ters, unmolested bj' the enemy.'" There they had collecfled 
the public stores.'" While the British lay encamped between 



—19— 

the city and the American army,"^ the latter threw up two 
lines of intrenchments across the island south of Colonel 
Roger Morris's (later the Jumel) house. 

It was feared the British would at once attempt to invest 
the island, or else land at Morrisania (Mott Haven) or at 
Hunt's or Throg's Point and outflank the Americans. To 
guard against both these movements, 10,000 men were left at 
and near Fort Washington, consisting of Parson's, Scott's and 
Dudley Sargent's brigades ; Heath's division was increased to 
10,000 at King's Bridge, and a floating bridge was thrown 
across the Harlem River, as he had suggested, to facilitate 
communication between these two bodies, while General 
Greene was put in command of the 5,000 troops on the New 
Jersey side of the Hudson River."" Four hundred and fifty 
of Heath's men were also sent from King's Bridge to Mor- 
risania (now Mott Haven), and established a chain of sentinels 
along the shore to watch the British on Montresor's (Ran- 
dall's) Island. The distance separating them was not great, 
and General Heath has preserved an amusing account in his 
Memoirs of the conversation carried on between the Ameri- 
can and English ofiicers.'" Further east along the shore of 
the Sound, near Throg's Neck, Colonel Glover was watching 
the movement of the British ships with a view to opposing 
the landing of troops."® 

On September 20, 1776, General Washington rode to King's 
Bridge, and inspedted the works there. He found them gar- 
risoned with 8,771 men, of whom 1,294 were reported present 
sick, and 1,108 as absent sick."" Since the battle of I^ong 
Island there had been constant desertions'" — which, how- 
ever, were common enough at all times.'" As King's and 
Dykeman's Bridges were the only ones connedling the island 
with the main land, a sentinel was stationed there to intercept 
deserters, especially those carrying ammunition."^ One 
was stopped, as Graydon tells us,'" carrying a cannon ball 
to his mother with which to pound mustard seed. Sentinels 
were also posted for a similar purpose at the Harlem ferry 
leading to Morrisania. '^^ 

On September 21, 1776, occurred a great fire in New York, 
destroying Trinity Church among other buildings, which, 
with no show of reason, was claimed to have been started by 
rebel incendiaries.'*'* 



—20— 

On the following day, Sunday, an attempt was made by the 
Americans to drive the Knglish from Moutresor's (Randall's) 
Island at the mouth of the Harlem River. Two hundred and 
forty men fell down the river with the tide from King's Bridge 
in boats, and attempted to land on the island, but were 
repulsed with the loss of fourteen men. The affair was badly 
managed, and, in consequence, one captain was cashiered.'*' 
While this affair was going on, Sunday services were not being 
ncgle(5led in the camp, and How records the text his chaplain 
preached on, namely Kcclesiastes, viii, 5.'*' A fortnight 
later the chaplain of Nash's " rigerment " preached from 
" Ivuke ye 12 chap 4th & 5th Varses.'"*" 

On Ocflober 3, 1776, a council of war was held under General 
Heath, and several new redoubts were planned, among them, 
possibly, the one known later as "King's Battery" (or 
Redoubt) still standing on the place of Mrs. N. P. Bailey, and 
one on the east bank of the Harlem River near Morrisania 
(Mott Haven).'" Twenty-five men, under Captain Hand, 
were also assigned to holding the causeway leading to Throg's 
Point, near a tide-mill, in case the British attempted to land 
there, which they did, as we shall see."^" 

A few days later, on Odtober 6, 1776, the British were 
heard embarking at Blackwell's Island and Montresor's (Ran- 
dall's) Island and moving eastward into Long Island Sound.'" 
On 0(5lober nth and 12th they landed on Throg's Point 
(or Neck), on the present site of Fort Schuyler, that point 
being seledled by the advice of their naval officers, who had 
been taking soundings and found the waters about Pell's 
Point too shallow.'" The troops were sent in flat-bottomed 
boats through Hell Gate.'" Lord Percy with two brigades 
of British and one of Hessian soldiers remained in New York, 
but kept up his connedtion with General Howe by means of 
men-of-war posted along the Sound.'" 

This move of General Howe's to Throg's Neck was a bril- 
liant stroke. By gaining the rear of the American army he 
hoped to cut off its supplies and recnforcements from the east, 
and thereby either compel Washington to evacuate New York 
Island or to draw him into a pitched battle in the favorable 
country of Westchester County."" 

General Howe remained encamped at Throg's Neck till 



—21— 

Odlober i8, awaiting the arrival of supplies from New York, 
and also of three battalions of Hessians from Staten Island. 
For this delay he was severely blamed, it being held that he 
should have at once moved inland and cut off the Americans' 
retreat from King's Bridge."* 

During this time the Americans had been adlive. The 
small detachment under Captain Hand stationed on the cause- 
way at Throg's Neck saw the eighty to ninety British boats 
sail up and land their crews on the point, and succeeded in 
preventing any general movement inland by the English, "'^ 
or, as Nash has it in his Diarj','^" " Our men ware too much 
for them the}^ Could not march out from under the covering 
of their Shiping." How writes in his diary on Odtober 12 :*^^ 
' ' we were all a larmed and marchd Down Almost there 
(to Throg's Neck), and Staid All Day the Enemy did not offer 
any Distance from there Ships." 

The garrison about King's Bridge was being constantly 
reinforced, ' ' and now became the largest part of the American 
army.""" McDougal's brigade joined Heath's forces there 
on Odtober 12, and Wadsworth's and Fellows' brigades fol- 
lowed a few days later.'" General Heath constantly recon- 
noitered the Westchester shore, and attempted to extend his 
left flank so as to prevent any advance by the English from 
Throg's Neck."' 

On 0(5tober 18, 1776, a cloudy and windy day. General 
Howe, possibly because of the annoyance of the American 
troops advantageously posted on the causeway, reembarked 
his troops and landed with them at Pell's Point (or Rodman's 
Neck) to the east of Throg's neck, and near the present City 
Island, which Stedman, the Tory historian of the Revolution, 
thinks he should have done at first. He advanced the same 
day to New Rochelle, driving back the American regiments 
that opposed him near Pelham Manor.'""' General Heath 
had dispatched a fresh brigade from King's Bridge to Throg's 
Neck for that purpose.'" 

The British army was now firmly established in Westchester 
County, threatening to attack the American army lying in the 
northern part of New York Island and about King's Bridge 
in the rear, and thus made its evacuation or eventual capture 
inevitable.'" The British had also established themselves 



—22— 

in New Jersey by taking Paulus Hook (Jersey City) on the 
night of September 23.'" 

At first General Washington leaned to evacuating Manhat- 
tan Island. General Charles Lee. who had been absent from 
the previous councils of war, sided with him, and at the 
council of war held on 0(5lober 16 urged the necessity of 
abandoning it. General Greene, however, was opposed. It 
was finally decided by all. General George Clinton, however, 
dissenting, to remove all the troops except those in and about 
Fort Washington and King's Bridge.'" General Lee, after 
the capture of Fort Washington, prided himself on having 
urged its evacuation ; he wrote to Benjamin Rush on Novem- 
ber 20, 1776, in a way charadleristic of him :'*' "I foresaw, 
predicfled, all that has happened and urged the necessity of 
abandoning it," and on November 22 he wrote to the Massa- 
chusetts Council i'"" " 'Twas indecision in our military- 
councils which cost us the garrison of Fort Washington." 
Others, for instance General Reed, went further in writing"" 
" in the afiair of Fort Washington, Genl W. manifested an 
Indecision of Mind which if uncorre(5led would shade the 
brighter Parts of his Chara(5ler." 

In compliance with the decision of the council of war, divi- 
sion orders were issued on Odtober 17, 1776, stationing General 
Heath and General Parsons in Fort Independence with one 
regiment, General Scott in a redoubt on Cannon Hill, and 
General Clinton in Valentine's cornfield (presumably on 
Valentine's Hill) and to the left with three 3-pounders, one 
6-pounder and one howitzer."' Eleven companies of a 
regiment of artillery and one colony company were stationed 
at King's Bridge under Colonel Henry Clay, a total of five 
hundred and seventy-seven men (including one chaplain and 
twenty-two drums and fifes)."' A strong garrison was also 
left at Fort Washington."' The main body of the American 
army had already begun to move northward on October 12, 
1776, along the right bank of the Bronx River, entrenching 
itself in detached redoubts along the heights from near Wood- 
lawn Cemetery to White Plains, where a fortified camp was 
established."' This movement of the Americans continued 
for ten days. General Washington following with the rear 
guard, spending the night of the 21st of October in General 
Lincoln's headquarters on " Volentine's Hill.'"" 



—23— 

I^eaving a strong garrison in and about Fort Washington 
and a regiment in Fort Independence has fairly been consid- 
ered a grave error on the part of General Washington. It was 
leaving those troops to sure capture, as relief or reinforcement 
was out of the question."" 

Colonel L,asher, who was left in command of Fort Indepen- 
dence, seeing his desperate position — King's Bridge had been 
evacuated and the barracks burnt by the American army as it 
marched northward, and his small garrison was growing weak 
and sickl}^,"'' — sent to General Heath at White Plains to 
know what to do, and was ordered by General Washington to 
destroy the barracks at his fort and to join Colonel Magaw, 
who had been left in command of the 3,000 men in and about 
Fort Washington.""' Colonel Lasher carried out this order 
on Odlober 27, and hastil}' evacuated Fort Independence the 
next da5^ abandoning the cannon and three hundred stand of 
small arms.''" It was high time, for on the following day 
the enemy appeared from the east, and occupied what was left 
of the fort. '^" 

But to return to the English army at New Rochelle. On 
Odlober 21 General Howe moved the right center of his line 
north of the village about two miles on the road toward White 
Plains.''' On the next day they pushed still further, the 
"Queen's Rangers" under Colonel Rogers advancing as far 
as " Marinack " (Mamaroneck), which, in the words of a 
contemporary, "our militia abandoned with the utmost pre- 
cipitation — as usual.'""' On 0(5lober 24 the British began 
the march to White Plains, meeting with little resistance. '*' 
While the British troops were marching northward along the 
left bank of the Bronx River, the American army was proceed- 
ing in the same direcftion along the right bank, breaking up 
their detached camps on the heights from Valentine's Hill 
to White Plains (described above) as they marched north- 
ward."^ These two hostile columns marching parallel 
through Westchester County committed depredations on the 
farms, which became a common occurrence and the cause of 
much suffering to the inhabitants from then on till 1783 and 
the end of the war."' 

On Sunday and Monday, Odlober 27 and 28, 1776, the two 
armies met in battle at White Plains,""* the cannonading 



—24- 

being heard as far off as at Fort Washington. The result was 
not decisive, Ijut certainly not favorable to General Washing- 
ton, who on Odlober 31 with rare skill withdrew his army 
northward five miles to the broken country about North 
Castle, where General Howe did not care to follow him."' 
In fa(5l, as one ICnglish authority has it:'"" "they were, as 
usual, too expeditious for our pursuit." This epitomizes 
General Washington's skill as a general. His military success 
and the successes of the other American leaders was largely 
due to their ability to run away from the English troops and 
to escape being drawn into battle except under circumstances 
most favorable to their side. Witness the battles of Saratoga 
and Yorktown. 

The English army in America was perhaps the best equipped, 
organized and officered military body ever seen up to that 
time, and, as we know, found no difficulty in occupying the 
leading cities along the coast and overrunning the neighboring 
districts ; but the nature of the country, the poor means of 
transportation and provisioning an army in the interior made 
it impossible for them to subjugate and hold more than a nar- 
row strip along tide water. We won our independence by 
wearing out the British as much as by the military aud finan- 
cial help France gave us. 

The strength of Howe's army was partly due to the large 
contingent of German troops, the use of which the German 
princes had, with questionable morality, rented to the English 
government. These Germans made excellent soldiers. To be 
sure, they are said to have got drunk regularly on their 
monthly pay-day,'"" but that was a weakness prevalent at 
the time in the best families, and, no doubt, the Americans 
would have adled similarly if they had been lucky enough to 
have a regular pay-day. 

The Hessian uniform must have been quite imposing : a 
towering bra.ss-fronted cap ; moustaches dyed black with shoe- 
polish, hair plastered with tallow and flour, a cue hanging to 
the waist ; a blue coat almost covered with broad belts sup- 
porting the cartouche box, a brass-hilted sword and bayonet, 
a yellow waist-coat with flaps, yellow breeches, and black 
gaiters up to the knees.'"" The German officers were a well- 
educated lot, and proficient in the art of war. General Knyp- 



—25— 

hauseu, who we shall see distinguished himself in the capture 
of Fort Washington, was about sixty-six j^ears old, a fine 
looking German about five feet eleven inches tall, straight and 
slender.'" His features were sharp, and his appearance 
martial. He was a native of Alsace, and followed his father's 
calling, who had served in the army of Frederick William I of 
Prussia, the father of Frederick the Great. After a distin- 
guished career in America he returned to Germany in 1782, 
and was succeeded by Lieutenant General Lossberg.'"'' 

The first batch of Hessian troops started from their home on 
February 29, 1776 ; among them were Ditfurth's, Donop's, 
Knyphausen's and Rail's battalions. On March 10 they 
marched through Bremen, and a week later set sail for 
England. Some of them reached Sandy Hook on August 
17. Another batch marched to Bremen from Cassel and set 
sail on March 22."" Some Hessians took part in the battle 
of Long Island on August 27,'°^ and were with the English 
soldiers when they landed on Manhattan Island on September 
15, and joined them in the lines north of the city, e. g. Donop's 
battalion. 

The second division of Hessians under Lieutenant General 
Knyphausen arrived in New York harbor on October 18, 1776, 
together with a regiment of Waldeck troops, six hundred and 
sevent}^ strong."" These were at once dispatched in many 
flat-bottomed boats up the East River into the Sound, described 
as a beautiful sight on a fine day (October 22) by a contem- 
porary newspaper reporter. There they joined the English 
troops which had already advanced beyond New Rochelle."* 
General Knj-phausen lay with his troops near the village 
of New Rochelle for nearly a week, while the English troops 
were pressing on to White Plains aqd engaging the Americans 
there. 

On October 28, the day of the battle of White Plains, 
General Knyphausen was ordered b)^ General Howe to leave 
the Waldeck regiment at New Rochelle, and to move with his 
six battalions of Hessians to King's Bridge. This he did, 
and took post at Mile Square and Valentine's Hill.'" On 
November 2 he continued his march to King's Bridge, and, 
crossing Dykeman's Bridge, encamped on the northern end of 
Manhattan Island opposite Spuyten Duyvil, the Americans 



— 2G— 

retiring before his advance to the shelter of P\jrt Washington, 
the barracks about King's Bridge, it will be renieml)ered, hav- 
ing been burned and the works abandoned a few days before 
by Colonel Lasher's men.'"" 

The Waldeck regiment followed Knyphausen, and estab- 
lished itself on November 4 in the ruins of Fort Indepen- 
dence."" General Grant on that day marched with the fourth 
brigade to Mile Square and Valentine's Hill. The sixth 
brigade also marched to the neighborhood of DeLancey's Mills 
(Bronxdale).'°° 

The main army under General Howe at White Plains also 
joined these forces for the purpose of investing Fort Washing- 
ton and the entire island of New York. Leaving the American 
army to itself in North Castle, General Howe retired from 
White Plains on November 4, and, marching towards the 
Hudson River, encamped at Dobbs Ferry two days later, 
where supplies could easily reach him from New York by 
water."" This apparently sudden change of plan on Howe's 
part is most easily explained b}^ supposing that he found it 
impossible to draw Washington into a general engagement, 
and preferred to retire and secure New York, where conve- 
nient winter quarters could be established."' Stedmau says :'" 
"Convinced that it was part of the enemy's system stu- 
diously to avoid an action and that their knowledge of the 
country enabled them to execute this system with an advan- 
tage, General Howe resolved to cease an ineflfedlual pursuit 
and employ himself in the reduction of King's Bridge and Fort 
Washington." 

Some thought wrongly at the time that Howe was retreating 
before Washington. ''°* General Heath and General Greene 
(at Fort Lee) entertained some such notion,'" and even one 
of the English generals four years later said :'"" "The rebels 
whom we had not thought worth pursuing, now pursued us 
and ravished the Chester counties." A clergyman in Green- 
wich, Connecticut, preaching a historical sermon a year later, 
uses these words:'"' "The enemy crossed in their expedla- 
tions (at White Plains) now despaired of compassing their 
design, gave over the pursuit and returned with shame." 

Some, however, .saw the real meaning of the British move- 
ment, and none more clearly than General Washington himself. 



—27— 

who, on November 6, reports the unexpected advance toward 
the Hudson River and King's Bridge to Congress, and 
expresses his fears that Fort Washington is to be attacked. 
He expresses the same fear in a letter to Governor Livingston 
on the following day/'" General Greene, too, early saw the 
real meaning of the British movement.'""' 

On November 7, some artiller)^ joined General Knyphausen 
at King's Bridge under a strong escort, also four battalions of 
Light Infantry, the remainder of the Chasseurs, and four field 
pieces. General Greene reports to General Washington from 
Fort IvCe that i , 500 British have taken possession of the slope 
north of ' ' Spiten Devil, ' ' but thinks they cannot penetrate 
any further.^'" The British and Hessians were reconnoiter- 
ing the approaches to Fort Washington on the same day. 
The Americans could distinctly see them on the plains south 
of King's Bridge. The Hessians could also be seen throwing 
up intrenchments in that neighborhood.^" On November 8 
and 9 these Hessians received a drubbing at the hands of a 
scouting party from the 3d and 5th Pennsylvania battalions 
stationed at Fort Washington."' 

In the meantime the main body of the English lay encamped at 
Dobbs Ferry, but on November 12, a "varry raw cold day," 
they broke camp at nine a. m., and marched in two col- 
umns to Phillipsburg (Yonkers), and pitched their tents near 
Phillips' manor (still standing and used as a court-house)."" 
Next day they moved on, and encamped on the "heights 
of Fordham . . . forming a line with the right to the 
Brunx, upon the Westchester Road, and the left to the North 
River." "* The British army was now ready to begin active 
preparations to invest Fort Washington. A brigade of Hes- 
sians had been added to Knj'phausen's forces at King's 
Bridge.^" Thirty flat-boats had also been sent up the 
North River on the night of November 14, under Captains 
Wilkinson and Molloy, without being observed from Fort 
Washington, and were taken through Spuyten Duyvil Creek 
to the Harlem River and King's Bridge.^'" 

To assist in the coming attack on Fort Washington, a 
redoubt, called ' ' Number Eight, ' ' had been hastily built on 
the site of the present house of Mrs. Gustav Schwab, and 
armed with some heavy artillery transported there (presumably 



— 2S— 

from New York), and also some field pieces."' Graydon 
quotes a friend's description of this redoubt:"" "On the 
west side of Hacrlcm River (on Laurel Hill), a body of men 
was posted to watch the motions of the enemy, who had eredled 
works on the high and commanding ground east of that river, 
apparently with the design of covering a landing of the troops 
in that part of the island of New York." 

This important redoubt was finished on November 15,'" 
and in the afternoon of that day General Howe sent Lieuten- 
ant Colonel Patterson to Fort Washington to demand its 
surrender of Colonel Magaw, the commander, which he 
refused."'" 

The situation, then, on the eve of the battle, was as follows : 
Knyphausen's Hessians and the Waldeck regiment were 
encamped near King's Bridge under Kohlen, Stein, Witgenau, 
Wissenbach, Huync, Bienau, Rail and Lossberg. A battery 
of Hessian artillerj^ was stationed in the flat land, east of the 
site of the present In wood school house."'" The.se forces 
were to storm the American works from the north. On the 
east of the Harlem River was Fort Number Eight, which was 
to assist the First and Second battalions of Light Infantry and 
two battalions of Guards under General Mathews, and a 
reserve consi.sting of the First and Second Grenadiers with the 
Thirty-third Regiment under Lord Cornwallis, in landing on 
the opposite shore and storming the redoubts on Laurel Hill. 
General Mathews' forces had been sent to the neighborhood of 
Fort Number Eight by way of the Hudson, Spuyten Duyvil 
Creek and Harlem River in the above-mentioned boats.'" 
Further south the American works along the west bank of the 
Harlem were to be carried by the Forty-second Regiment 
under Colonel Sterling. They were to cross the river about 
opposite the Roger Morris house."* From the south Lord 
Percy with his English and Hessian columns was to carry the 
two lines of intrenchments across the island and press on to 
Fort Washington."* The Engli.sh man-of-war " Pearl," which 
conveyed General Howe to this country, was also stationed in 
the Hudson River, one mile north of Jeffrey's Hook, to assist 
in the attack and prevent the escape of the garrison.''" 

Opposed to these British forces were the American garrisons 
at Fort Washington and the outlying redoubts, in all about 



-29- ■ ,.> ^ 



^ 



3,000 men. Of these 1,200 formed the garrison of Fort Wash- -^Z 

ington itself, of whom two hundred to three hundred had been ^ 

sent as a reinforcement from Colonel Durkee's regiment by- 
General Greene from Fort I<ee on October 21."' The troops 
in the fort were chiefly from Pennsylvania and Maryland, and 
belonged to the Third, Fifth and Sixth Pennsjdvania bat- 
talions."' Of the Fifth battalion two hundred and two were 
reported present and fit for duty on November 15, and three 
absent without leave. Two weeks before the battalion had 
been twice as large."* 

These troops in Fort Washington were under the command 
of Colonel Robert Magaw, who had been left there on Wash- 
ington's retiring with his army to White Plains."' This 
brave ofiicer, a lawyer by profession, hailed from Pennsyl- 
vania. He had been made a colonel by the Congress early in 
1776 ; soon after he was put in command of the Sixth Penn- 
sylvania regiment (or battalion). He was made a prisoner 
in the capture of Fort Washington, remained in prison four 
j^ears, was finall)^ exchanged in 1780, and retired from the 
army. He died in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in December, 1789, 
and is buried there in the Meeting House Cemetery."" 

At the end of the same ridge with and north of Fort Wash- 
ington, and overlooking In wood, the redoubt which had been 
built was manned with a small garrison of two hundred and 
ninety-seven men, mostly from Fort I^ee, the rest Maryland 
militia men, under the command of Colonel Rawlins."' The 
redoubt on Cock Hill overlooking Spuyten Duyvil Creek had 
presumably been abandoned bj^ the Americans on the approach 
of the Hessians a fortnight before. 

Another outpost of Fort Washington was the one on Laurel 
Hill (later called "Fort George"), a commanding position 
which was manned by some Pennsylvania militia under 
Colonel Baxter of Bucks County, Pennsylvania."' To the 
south Colonel Cadwallader's forces manned the intrenchments 
which commanded the approach from that diredlion."' 

From this description of the relative disposition of the 
American and British troops it is seen how hopeless the con- 
test necessarily was, and General Washington, as he took in 
the situation from his point of observation on the Palisades 
near Fort Lee — he had moved his arm^^ into New Jersey from 



0" 



—so- 
North Castle in the nicaiitiuie, arriving at General Greene's 
quarters at Fort Lee on November 13, — must have felt a keen 
regret at having allowed himself to be persuaded by General 
Greene to leave a garrison in the forts opposite and sacrifice 
them to certain capture."* As late as November 8 he still 
hesitated to leave the garrison in Fort Washington owing to 
the ineffedlive obstrudlions in the Hudson River."' These he 
had been attempting since June to construdl between Forts 
Washington and Lee, but to no purpose, for the English ships 
invariably broke them.-'" Those ordered on September 8, 
1776, were easily passed on the morning of October 9, by three 
Fnglish ships and their tenders, which "came up the North 
river By fort Wors'n and run up about fifteen miles and 
anchored." There they sent their crews ashore at Dobbs 
Ferry to plunder. Nash tells us in his Journal ' ' they took 
two of our galleys and a Sloop and a schooner Loaded with 
rum." "^ Two days later Washington had a narrow escape, 
for, coming down the Hudson in a barge, a shot from one of 
these Knglish men-of-war killed three of his crew."" 

Doubtless General Washington's attempt to hold Fort Wash- 
ington was one of the most serious errors he committed during 
the Revolution ;"'•' while Lord Howe's plan of surrounding 
that fort and the disposition of his troops was a brilliant 
manoeuvre, and has excited the admiration of writers on the 
war.'"" 

The chance discovery of a letter dated some years later adds 
curiously to our knowledge of Howe's plans. It has always 
seemed strange that Howe should have been apparently so 
familiar with the disposition of the American troops about 
Fort Washington and been able to diredt his attacks accord- 
ingly. Graydon threw out the following suggestion :"' 
" Howe must have had a perfe<5l knowledge of the ground we 
occupied. This he might have acquired from hundreds in 
New York ; but he might have been more thoroughly informed 
of everything desirable to be known from one Dement of 
Magaw's battalion, who was intelligent in points of duty, and 
deserted to the enemy a week before the assault. This man 
was probably an emissary from them ; he was an European, I 
recollecfl, and not originally an ofiicer of the corps ; his name, 
at least, is not among those appointed by the Committee of 



1/ 



—31— 

Safety," Graydon describes him as "a coarse, ill-looking 
man." 

This suspicion of Graydon' s was confirmed in a strange way 
by the discovery many years after of the following letter of 
William Demont (or Dement) to Rev. Dr. Peters of the Church 
of England, dated January i6, 1792 (now in the possession of 
Mr. E. F. DeLancey) :''' 

" Revd Sir 

Permit me to trouble you with a Short recital of my Ser- 
vices in America which I Presume may be Deem'd among the 
Most Singular of any that will go to upper Canada (he 
wanted a claim on the English officials in Canada). On the 
2d of Novr 1776 I Sacrificed all I was worth in the world to 
the Service of my King & Country & Joined the then Lord 
Percy brought in with (me) the Plans of Fort Washington by 
which Plans that Fortress was taken by his Majesty's Troops 
the 16 instant. . . . these Sir are fadls well known to 
every General Officer which was there — and I may with Truth 
Declare from the time I studied the Interest of my Country & 
Neglected my own — or in the I^anguage of Cardinal Woolsey 
had I served my God as I have done my king he would not 
Thus have Forsaken me. ' ' 

He then offers a bill for his services'" "for engaging 
Guides, getting intelligence &c. 45^^. 9s. 9d. For doing duty 
as commissary of Prisoners at Philadelphia etc. 26^. 13s. 8d." 

This remarkable confession is borne out by a closer exami- 
nation of the contemporary sources, and is accepted by such 
authorities as Professor H. P. Johnston, Mrs. M. J. Lamb and 
J. G. Wilson."' It seems this William Demont (or Dement) 
had entered Magaw's battalion in Philadelphia as ensign, by 
the appointment of the Pennsylvania Council of Safety, on 
January i, 1776,''' Graydon's statement notwithstanding. 
On February 29, 1776, this Council or Committee appointed 
him Adjutant to the Fifth Pennsylvania battalion, which posi- 
tion he continued to hold while it was stationed at Fort 
Washington, where he signed the returns for his battalion, for 
instance on October 7, 1776."° His desertion on November 
2 is corroborated by his appearing on the rolls as ' ' absent with- 
out leave " on that day. ^" Doubtless he carried the plans of 
the fort and its outposts, with much additional information, to 
Lord Percy, who, it will be remembered, had been left on 



—32— 

Manhattan Island near Harlem, when Lord Howe moved with 
his troops to Throg's Neck and White Plains.'"' 

Even gnmtetl that Demont or his papers were at once sent 
to the commander-in-chief, Lord Howe, at White Plains, it is 
extremely doubtfnl whether the receipt of the information 
caused him to suddenly change his plans, withdraw from 
facing Washington and hasten southward to invest New York, 
as Mr. E. F. DeLancey and others would have us believe."" 

Such an explanation assumes that Demont deserted, com- 
municated with Lord Percy, reached the British army at 
White Plains, and that the latter broke camp and started for 
Dobbs' Ferry — all in two days. It also overlooks the impor- 
tant fadl that five days before Demont' s desertion General 
Knyphausen had been ordered 1)}' General Howe to march 
from New Rochelle to King's Bridge, and that he reached that 
place with his Hes.sians on the day Demont communicated 
with the English. The relation of these dates ought to leave 
it beyond question that ' ' although the British commander 
must have intended to attack Fort Washington, he was 
doubtless confirmed in his intentions by (the) information 
received.'"" 

An order of General Howe's, dated October 5, 1777, putting 
this ' ' Captain Dement, Fourier de la Cour, ' ' in charge of the 
Rebel Prisoners as Commi.ssary of Prisoners, confirms another 
item in the deserter's confession.'^' However, his claim that 
every English general officer knew of his feat cannot be veri- 
fied. Presumably he, like the above historians, exaggerated 
the importance of his achievement. Certainly no American 
officer, except Graydon as mentioned above, knew or suspedled 
his treacherj', which, in evil intention at least, rivalled that of 
Benedi<5l Arnold four years later."' 



-SB- 



ATTACK ON FORT WASHINGTON."' 

On Saturday, November i6, 1776, the famous attack on Fort 
Washington was made from the four diredlions indicated 
above. The battle began early in the morning with a cannon- 
ade on the part of the Hession battery on the plain near the 
Centur>' House dire(5ted at Colonel Rawlins' position on the 
heights south of Inwood."' The batteries at Fort Number 
Eight and those further down the Harlem River joined in this 
bombardment,'" dire(5ling their fire at Baxter's redoubt on 
I^aurel Hill and at Cadwallader's position near the Roger 
Morris (the Jumel) house. Gray don, who was himself sta- 
tioned on the southern lines opposing Lord Percy's advance, 
describes"" the ' ' tremendous roar of artillery, quickly suc- 
ceeded by incessant vollies of small arms, which seemed to 
proceed from the east and north." "" 

In fact, the main and most stubborn attack was made from 
the north about noon by the Hessians advancing from King's 
Bridge."' In the words of General Heath :^'' "General 
Knyphausen, with a heavy column of Hessians, advanced by 
King's Bridge. They were discovered by the Americans from 
the high ground north of Fort Washington, as day broke, and 
cannonaded from the field pieces at this advanced post. The 
Hessian column divided into two ; the right ascending the 
strong broken ground towards Spitten-Devil Creek ; the left 
nearer the road, towards the gorge. The first obtained the 
ground without much difiiculty, but the Americans made a most 
noble opposition against the latter and for a considerable time 
kept them from ascending the hill, making a terrible slaugh- 
ter among them ; but the great superiority of the assailants, 
with an unabating firmness, finally prevailed ; their loss was 
greater here than any other place. ' ' 

This is, perhaps, the best contemporary description of the 
advance of the Hessian and Waldeck troops upon Fort Wash- 
ington. Bancroft's description is more pidluresque but proba- 
bly imaginary :""" "Excited by the obstinacy of the contest. 
Rail (the commander of the Hessian right wing) cried out 
' Forward, my Grenadiers, every man of you,' his drums 
beat, his trumpets blew the notes of command, and all who 



—34— 

escaped the fire from behind rocks and trees shouted ' Hurrah ' 
and pushed forward without firing." 

General Knyphausen's orders for tlie attack have been pre- 
served."' Tlie Jiigers and forty Grenadiers under Captain 
Bornin were to act as .skirmishers ; one liundred and sixty 
men under Colonel Borbeck were to follow. Then were to 
come the Grenadiers under Kohler and those of Wutgenau 
(Witgenau), Lossberg, Rail, Knyphausen, Huyne, Biinau and 
the Waldeck regiment. Orders for the assault were given in 
detail. The advance was to begin at 5.30 a. m. Colonel Rail 
commanded the right wing, with Donop commanding the 
.skirmish line, which advanced along the heights overlooking 
the Hudson River from Spuyten Duyvil Creek, with difficulty 
crowding back Colonel Rawlins' brave Maryland troops 
tow^ard Fort Washington,"^ where he was joined by General 
Knyphausen, who had advanced with the left wing along the 
King's Bridge Road, and forced his way through the woods to 
within gunshot of Fort Washington."' 

The garrison in Fort Number Eight could plainly see the 
Hessians advancing on Fort Washington from the north, and 
assisted the movement by vigorously bombarding Colonel 
Baxter's po.sition opposite."* To assi.st still further in the 
attack from the north, General Mathew-s, who had been lying 
with his Second battalion of Guards and his First and Second 
battalions of Light Infantrj'^ under the protection of the guns 
of Fort Number Eight, advanced to the river's edge, and, 
cro.ssing in thirty boats to the opposite shore, he landed his 
troops in Sherman's Creek and immediately advanced with 
them up the steep slope of Laurel Hill. General Lord Corn- 
wallis immediately followed with his two battalions of Grena- 
diers as well as the Thirty-third regiment (the latter had 
been sent as a reinforcement from King's Bridge). Headed 
by the light infantry, this body stormed the redoubts on 
Laurel Hill, but were at first much harassed by the American 
riflemen hidden behind stones and trees."" 

The following is Graydou's description:"' "The militia 
under Colonel Baxter, posted on Harlem River (Laurel Hill) 
were attacked by the British guards and light infantry, who 
landed on the island of New York, protected by the fire from 
the work on the heights, on the opposite side of the river 



—35— 

(Fort Number Eight). A short contest ensued, but our 
troops, overpowered by numbers, and leaving behind them 
Colonel Baxter, who was killed by a British officer as he was 
bravely encouraging his men, retired to the fort (Fort Wash- 
ington)." 

General Heath describes the attack in less detail. '^^ General 
Howe's description is also meagre. °°* Ivossing says : °*° " Gen- 
eral Mathews pushed up the wooded heights, drove Baxter's 
troops from their redoubt (Laurel Hill) and rocky defence 
and stood victors upon the hills overlooking the open fields 
around Fort Washington." 

Carrington is no more circumstantial :"" " The division of 
Mathews and Cornwallis, which had been in readiness, landed, 
although under heavy fire, pushed back the resisting force, and 
moved over Laurel Hill to take the works (Fort Washing- 
ton) in the center." 

DeLancey describes the attack as follows:*" "Just as the 
Germans became full)^ engaged the British regiments of light 
infantr)^ and guards, four in number, under Brigadier General 
Mathews, supported by the First and Second Grenadiers and 
the Thirty-third Foot, under Cornwallis, in thirty boats under 
cover of a tremendous fire from the British batteries on its 
Westchester side, crossed Harlem River to Sherman's Creek. 
Though met with a sharp fire, they instantly ascended the face 
of Laurel Hill, high, wooded and precipitous, the falling leaves, 
yet moist with the rain of the preceding daj'-, rendering the 
footing still more difficult and drove from the battery on its 
brows and its summit the Penns5dvania troops (the last re- 
enforcement sent over from Fort Lee) whom Magaw had 
detailed to defend it. Though defeated and forced to retreat, 
they made a brave defense. Colonel Baxter, their commander, 
being killed, sword in hand, at the head of his men." 

Johnson, in his Life of Nathaniel Greene,"'" describes the 
attack on Laurel Hill as follows : "A strong column of British 
troops, commanded by some of Howe's best officers, had been 
held in reserv^e on the eastern bank of the Harlem, and so 
completely masked from view, that when the Americans 
thought themselves engaged with the whole British force, to 
their astonishment they were apprised that a formidable and 
fresh enemy was descending the Harlem, and about to efiedt a 



1 



— 3fi— 

landing on the rocky shore which extends northwardly from 
the post occupied by Colonel Baxter. Pressed lx;fore by very 
superior numbers, this new danger which threatened the rear 
of both Rawlins and Cadwallader required immediate attention. 
About one hundred and fifty men dispatched from Cadwal- 
lader' s command, and one hundred from the fort in vain 
opposed a prompt and resolute resistance to eight hundred 
picked men, already landed and forcing their way up the hill. 
But the contest was not bloodless." 

An early English history of the war says:'" "The light 
infantry landed and were exposed both before and after to a 
very brisk and continual fire from the provincials, who v/ere 
themselves covered by the rocks and the trees among which 
they were posted. The former, however, with their usual 
alertness and activity, extricated themselves by clambering 
up a very steep and rough mountain, and made way for the 
landing of the troops without opposition." 

Murray, writing in 1780, says:'" " The second (attack) on 
the east was led by Brigadier-General Matthews, at the head 
of the First and Second battalions of Light Infantry and Third 
battalion of Guards, supported by Lord Cornwallis with the 
First and Second battalions of Grenadiers and the Thirty- 
third regiment. These troops crossed the East River in flat 
boats, and as the enemies' works there extended the breadth of 
the island, redoubts and batteries were eredled on the opposite 
shore, both to cover the landing of the troops, and to annoy 
those works which were near the water." 

While the British were successfully approaching Fort Wash- 
ington from the north and northeast, General Sterling had car- 
ried the American earthworks overlooking the Harlem near 
Colonel Roger Morris's house with his Forty-second High- 
lander regiment and two battalions of the Second brigade. He 
had crossed the Harlem (at about 160th Street) and stormed 
the heights, driving back the small body of Americans who 
opposed him. capturing one hundred and seventy of their num- 
ber. Driving the remainder before him, he rapidly moved 
toward Fort Washington."" This movement of General Stir- 
ling's had been intended merel)' as a feint, but he found it an 
easy matter to drive back the Americans from their redoubt, 
and followed up his advantage by moving direcftly on Fort 
Washington."' 



— 3Y— 

A letter from headquarters, dated November 29, 1776,"' 
reads thus ; "On Saturda5^ the i6th inst., about two o'clock 
afternoon, a Body of British troops from New York, with a 
body of Hessians from King's Bridge, made an attack upon 
our Lines at that Place. At the same time a number of Boats 
from the Shipping Came up Harlem River and landed a Party 
of them, who advanced forward with an Intention to cut off 
our Retreat, which in part they effected ; But a part of our 
Men taking advantage of a Hill got safe to the Fort." 

The fourth attack upon Fort Washington was made from the 
south b}^ lyord Percy's leading a corps of British and a column 
of Hessian troops from Bloomingdale, where they had been 
encamped, driving back the Americans from their outposts 
intrenched south of Fort Washington, and approached close to 
that fort.'" 

As General Washington watched the attack from the Pali- 
sades opposite in company with Tom Paine and others,'" he 
soon realized the inevitable result, and dispatched Captain 
Gooch of Boston across the river to urge Colonel Magaw to 
hold out till evening, when he would attempt to get the garri- 
son into New Jersey. It was too late, however. Captain 
Gooch, after delivering the message, barely eluded the enemy, 
who almost surrounded the fort, and reached his boat and the 
other shore with difiicult5^'^° 

Cut off from retreat, and open to the bombardment by the 
British artiller}^ Colonel Magaw was compelled to surrender 
the fort about sundown.'"' He has been blamed for doing so, 
but without reason.'"' 

In his report to the Committee of Safety on November 16, 
1776, General Washington reported the number of prisoners as 
about 2,000.'" In point of fadl, there were more. The Eng- 
lish report'*' puts the number at 2,586, which must have been 
nearer the truth. Among them were four colonels, four lieu- 
tenant-colonels, five majors, forty-six captains, one hundred 
and seven lieutenants, thirty-one ensigns, one chaplain, two 
adjutants, two quartermasters, five surgeons, two commissaries, 
one engineer, one wagon master. Among the ordnance cap- 
tured were four 32-pounders, two i8-pounders, seven 12-poun- 
ders, five 9-pounders, fifteen 6-pounders, eight 3-pounders, two 
5}4 inch howitzers, beside the cannon previously captured about 
King's Bridge.'" 



—38— 

Graydon has given us an amusing account of liis being taken 
prisoner ; he was much annoyed 1)y the officers of the light 
infantry (who had stormed Laurel Hill), " for the most part 
young and insolent puppies.""" 

The attack had cost a good many lives. The Hessians alone 
lost fift}'-three ; two hundred and seventy-three of them were 
wounded.'^" The list of killed and wounded Pennsylvania 
officers is preserved. '""■" 

The report of the capture of Fort Washington traveled 
slowly. It reached Philadelphia on November i8, 1776, and 
was not credited "but by our enemies and the timorous and 
faint-hearted amongst us. ' ' Two days later the news was con- 
firmed."' 

How, who was presumably with the American army in New 
Jersey at the time, notes in his diary on November 17,"" " We 
hear that Fort Washington was taken By the Enimy Yester- 
day." 

The rumor of the capture reached New Haven November 
20,"' which was followed a week later by a full report of the 
battle, as usual not correct in its details.'" Colonel Magaw, 
for instance, was misnamed " Genl McGraw." 

By December i, 1776, the news had reached the neighbor- 
hood of Boston and had been confirmed."^ 

The capture of Fort Washington was a heavy blow to the 
American cause. Not only did it insure to the British the 
unmolested possession of New York Island — though, as we 
have seen, this was inevitable, — but, above all, it deprived the 
American army of a large body of soldiers who were now pris- 
oners of war instead of swelling the dwindling ranks of Wash- 
ington's army. Their number and names are preserved.'"* 
The loss of these men was the more severe, as it was felt that 
they had been uselessly sacrificed, and had been left to no pur- 
pose in Fort Washington on the withdrawal of the American 
army to White Plains. 

The British troops were pleased with their success, and even 
did some uncalled-for bragging. One English officer writes 
ten daj'S later''"' of Fort Washington as "the strongest post 

that ever was occupied by an army Hannibal, in his 

passage over the Alps, could not have met with grounds or 
difficulties more formidable than what the Hessians had to go 



—so- 
ever." A Tory newspaper of New York of about the same 
date says :"° "the ground and Defences about Fort Washing- 
ton are so very strong and advantageous, that a correspondent 
supposes, a Handful of British Troops would have maintained 
the Place for six months against an army of Thirty Thousand 
men." 

In point of fadl, the American garrison could under no con- 
ceivable circumstances have withstood the British attack, 
which does not seem to have been marked with more than 
ordinary courage, considering the odds in favor of the British 
troops, well equipped and ably commanded as they were, 
attacking a much smaller number of poorl)^ disciplined and 
raw American troops. 



—40— 



THE WAR IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 

After capturing Fort Washington, and thus assuring them- 
selves unmolested control of New York Island, the British 
prepared to go into winter quarters. General Greene, writ- 
ing to General Washington from Fort Lee on November i8, 

1776, just before he evacuated that post, reports the movement 
of the British troops on the opposite shore of the Hudson 
River,"'" and General Lee, writing to General Washington a 
few days later, notes the massing of the enemy about King's 
Bridge."" 

Fort Washington was named Fort Knyphausen in honor of 
that intrepid commander, to whom its capture was so largely 
due, and he was put in command of that post, which he 
strengthened and garrisoned with his Hessian troops as an out- 
post of New York, and a barrier to a possible invasion of the 
island from the north."" 

In fact, it was highly necessary to guard against incursions 
by the Americans from the north, and Fort Independence, and 
particularly Fort Number Eight, played a prominent part, as 
we shall see, in the incessant skirmishes of the following seven 
years ; small bands of Americans constantly sweeping down 
on those posts from their strongholds in upper Westchester 
County, and threatening their capture."" 

In January, 1777, for instance, at Washington's command, 
who hoped thereby to lead the British to withdraw some of 
their troops from New Jersey, General Heath, whom General 
Lincoln and a body of militia had joined, approached New 
York from the north with 4,000 men. On January 17 and 18, 

1777, they moved toward King's Bridge; one column under 
Lincoln marching from Tarrytown to the heights above 
Colonel Van Courtland's house ; another column of Con- 
necflicut troops under Generals Wooster and Parsons approach- 
ing from New Rochelle and East Chester, which they had 
reached two days before ; and the third column under General 
Scott, to which General Heath attached himself, from White 
Plains. The last two columns took position on the heights 
east of King's Bridge."" A British outpost gave the alarm at 
the approach of the Americans in the early morning, and the 



—41 — 

pickets were at once withdrawn behind the protedling guns of 
Fort Independence. Heath placed a battery south of the fort 
on the heights above Dykeman's (now Farmer's) Bridge to 
bombard the fort and also a body of Hessians which appeared 
below from King's Bridge, and with good effedt, for the Hes- 
sians withdrew "as fast as they could without running" 
behind the redoubt and hill named Fort Prince Charles at 
King's Bridge (on Marble Hill)/"' 

The cannonade of the fort continued three daj'S, but evidently 
did little damage, for General Heath was obliged to send to 
North Castle for heavier ordnance on January 22, which arrived 
five days later, but proved to be useless. In the mean time 
there were daily skirmishes. A storm came on, and lyincoln's 
troops, encamped in huts in the woods to the north of the fort, 
were compelled to retire. The British, too, made repeated and 
successful sallies, one to DeLancey's Mills (Bronxdale), and 
one to Valentine's Hill, driving back the Americans from their 
positions. The latter retaliated by sending a detachment to 
Morrisania (now Mott Haven) to light fires, which greatly 
frightened the British garrisons on Montresor's (Randall's) 
Island and in Fort Washington.^'"' 

The weather grew worse, a heavy snow storm came on, and 
on January 29, 1777, the Americans, unable to draw out the 
British garrison from Fort Independence or Fort Number 
Eight into skirmishes on terms favorable to them, and being 
without efiicient ordnance, retired in three columns, as they 
had come, to Tarr5^town, White Plains and New Rochelle.^"* 

A few daj's later, Colonel Enos was sent with a detachment 
of Americans to surprise Fort Independence, with no result, 

h305 
owever. 

Till late in 1777 there was no skirmishing about New York 
worth mentioning. But in November of that year a part)^ of 
Colonel Emerick's Chasseurs from King's Bridge, where they 
were stationed, moved northward on a marauding expedition. 
They captured Peter and Cornelius Van Tassel. The Ameri- 
cans retaliated by moving down the Hudson in boats from 
Tarry town under Abraham Martlingh. Passing the enemy's 
water guards, and landing a little below Spuyten Duyvil 
Creek, they burned the house of General Oliver DeLancey, 
the leading Tory.'"" 



—42— 

During the summer of 1777 the British garrison in New 
York and al^out King's Bridge consisted of the following regi- 
ments : The Ouards ; the 45th (which at one time was sta- 
tioned at Fort Number Eight), 35th, 4th, 2.Sth, 49th, 26th, 
7th, 63d, 52d, the ist and 2d battalions of the 71st, Simcoe's 
Rangers, Emerick's Chasseurs, (the last two corps were largely 
recruited from American loyalists, and were generally stationed 
at King's Bridge),'"' Lord Cathcart's Eegion (which was sta- 
tioned at King's Bridge a year later),*"* the Irish Volunteers, 
Bayard's Corps, a corps attached to the artillery, and the fol- 
lowing Hessian regiments : Prince Charles, Tromback, Donop, 
Mirbach, Knyphausen, Lossberg, Wellart, Seitzt, Wiseubach, 
Hereditary Prince (Erbprinz), and the Hessian Grenadiers 
under Linsing, Mingerode, Larquhay and Kuyler. These 
troops laj' quietly in and about New York during the rest of 
1777 and the first half of 1778. Insignificant expeditions into 
the " Neutral Country " were made by the " Queen's Ranger's, 
in May, 1778, for instance, to Croton Bridge, and later to 
Mamaroneck/"" 

But in July, 1778, the Americans became bolder, and under 
General Scott hovered about the English outposts at Forts 
Independence and Number Eight, moving rapidl)^ through the 
country between Yonkers and New Rochelle. Thej^ frequently 
sent their patrols to William's Bridge (over the Bronx) and to 
Valentine's Hill, and kept Emerick's Chasseurs and Simcoe's 
Rangers in a constant state of alarm/'" Occasionally the 
Americans and British would meet in an indecisive skirmish, 
as on Augnst 20, 1778, when Emerick's corps was attacked/" 
This corps and the Rangers were encamped outside of King's 
Bridge, and had just been reinforced bj^ some loj'alist troops, 
as " the post was of great extent, liable to insult and required 
many sentinels.""" 

It was inevitable that the British and American troops 
should now and then meet, as they roamed through the 
" Neutral Country " (made famous by Cooper) in lower West- 
chester County in small detachments on foraging and maraud- 
ing expeditions. These were of frequent occurrence. Thus, 
in September, 1778, the 71st regiment of light troops under 
Colonel Campbell advanced to Mile Square. At the same time 
the loyalist troops (the "Queen's Rangers," DeLancey's 



—43— 

"Cow-boys," Emerick's corps and some cavalry under Sim- 
coe, also some Hessians under Knyphausen) were scouring the 
country beyond the Bronx and toward the Chesters/'^ 

Not only did the British have to keep a lookout for American 
troops ; the Stockbridge Indians also joined in the fun — they 
were old hands in such matters/'* — and had to be repulsed 
from King's Bridge by Simcoe/" 

One gets the clearest notion of the conditions in the British 
garrisons and the life led by the soldiers from the interesting 
journal kept by Von Krafft, a German soldier in the Hessian 
brigade, who deserves more than passing notice. J. C. P. Von 
Krafft was born in Dresden in 1752. Anxious to join in the 
American war, he volunteered on an American privateer, but, 
after reaching this country in July, 1778, he joined his country- 
man Donop's regiment, in which he became a corporal in Sep- 
tember, 1 78 1. A year later he rose to a lieutenantcy in von 
Bose's regiment. While in this country he secretly married 
Miss Cornelia de la Metre in 1783, and settled here after the 
war, as many of his countrymen did, jBrst in New York as a 
teacher, and later in the Capitol as a government employee. 
His descendants still live in Washington."* 

Immediately on being enrolled with the Hessians, he marched 
with them to " Blumendal " (Bloomingdale), and encamped 
there. Soon he was attached to the garrisons at Fort Knyp- 
hausen (Fort Washington) and King's Bridge.'" One day he 
was sent with others to guard the powder magazine at ' ' Tortel- 
bey," where he found time to do some successful foraging, for 
he writes, " never until then did I eat so many cherries and 
oysters as in this place."'* As a result, he spent some days in 
the hospital. Another day he spends in visiting friends in the 
' ' Erbprinz ' ' regiment, which was encamped on a hill from 
which one could see the East River and "King's Pritsch " 
(evidentl)^ the redoubt Fort George on I^aurel Hill)."" I^ater 
in Jul)'^, 1778, he joined the Chasseurs, one hundred and nine- 
teen men, stationed at Colonel Roger Morris's (the Jumel) 
house, at that time General Knyphausen' s headquarters. 
With them he marched to ' ' Spakent Hill ' ' opposite Fort 
" Intepentence " (his Saxon origin still influenced his pronun- 
ciation and spelling) near the Van Cortlandt house, and 
encamped there (evidently on the heights north of and over- 



—44— 

looking Spuyteii Duyvil Creek). He records that the mosqui- 
toes made sleep impossible."" 

Von KrafTt tells us in detail about the foraging expeditions 
into Westchester County which he joined. Once they moved 
northward to Yonkers, and encamped at the famous Phillips' 
manor. Kvidently provisions were scarce, and the Hessians 
nmtinous in consequence."'" Later he joined an expedition to 
" Weit Blene," where he stole his share of pigs, fowl and fruit, 
and enjoyed the chestnuts which were then ripe. Tovvard 
the end of the year 1778 his battalion was frequently on patrol 
duty. On one of these occasions the Americans attacked their 
outposts, who were fast asleep, robbed them of their arms, and 
let them go after a sound drubbing. Such skirmishes were 
frequent."' 

In November, 1778, Von KrafFt was stationed in the redoubt 
overlooking Spuyteu Duyvil Creek, and in December, 1778, 
near Fort Knyphausen (Fort Washington)."" lu that month 
he was ordered across King's Bridge to work near a log house 
between King's Battery (on Mrs. N. P. Bailey's place) and 
Fort Number Seven (on Mr. Oswald Cammann's place). He 
records that two English ' ' Rehentschers ' ' (Rangers) had been 
hanged on two gallows, in front of the log house for murder.'" 
He was thus engaged during the winter, 1778-9, now on duty 
on " Nord River Hill" (north of Spuyten Duivil), or in camp 
under Fort Knyphausen — in dangerous proximity to the Blue 
Bell tavern, at least judging so from the number of broils and 
duels he was engaged in, — or detached on raids northward 
through Yonkers, or at work on the redoubts on " L,ourall 
Hill" or at King's Battery."'" While stationed on Laurel 
Hill, he made a sketch of the view from there across the Harlem 
River from Fort Number Eight on the south to Spuyteu 
Duyvil and the Hudson on the north."' 

The winter quarters were uncomfortable. Nine huts were 
provided for each company, which in summer were surrounded 
with vegetable and flower gardens. Provisions were irregular 
— there were no orchards to raid — and there was much suffer- 
ing.'" Some of the English troops had been sent to Oyster 
Bay on Long Island for the winter months, to escape the 
"exposed heights of King's Bridge," and returned in May, 

1779. 



—45— 

The British evidently found their redoubts beyond the Har- 
lem River too scattered to be safe against the frequent raids of 
the Americans, and in August, 1779, they razed their works 
about King's Bridge, and removed their cannon and huts from 
Fort Independence."" Prince Charles Redoubt (on Marble 
Hill), however, was retained as the most northerly British 
post."' Redoubt Number Seven (on Mr. Oswald Cammann's 
place) was dismantled on September 10, 1779, and Redoubt 
Number Six (north of it) on the following day. The destruc- 
tion of Fort Independence followed on September 12, 1779. A 
few days later King's Battery and Fort Number Five (on Mr. 
H. B. Claflin's place) were razed."" Part of the abattis from 
these dismantled redoubts was taken to Fort Number Eight for 
its repair. It was strengthened and garrisoned with one cap- 
tain, one subaltern, and fifty privates."' 

It was evidently General Knyphausen's plan to concentrate 
his troops about Fort Knyphausen, which was deemed * ' impreg- 
nable to the Rebels,""" and on Laurel Hill, which had been 
strengthened. Fort Number Eight was selected as the only 
redoubt to be retained beyond the Harlem River, as it laj^ 
within reach of the prote(5ting guns of Fort George on Laurel 
Hill, and was connecfted with New York Island by a ferry 
(Howland's Ferry), leading from near the site of Morris Dock 
(to which a path led down from the fort) across to the creek 
opposite. A contemporary English writer says:"' "On the 
east side of the East River, on the main land opposite to Laurel 
Hill, we have a work called Number Four (a mistake for Num- 
ber Eight), in which is the only post we have on that side. In 
case of a serious attack it is probable we would abandon this 
post." 

Fort Number Eight was useful in restraining the American 
raids in Westchester County. Heath writes :"' "The enemy 
had a redoubt, called Number Eight, on the East Side of the 
Haerlem Creek, nearly opposite to the fort on Laurel Hill, and 
under fire of its cannon, for the security of their advanced 
troops on the Morrisania side." 

The Americans were, in fadl, constantly sweeping down on 
Morrisania, as, for instance, in August, 1779.'" The boldness 
of their raids led to the strengthening of Fort Number Eight 
in the fall of 1779, fifty Hessians, among them our friend 



— 40— 

\'on Krafft, being detailed under Engineer Sproule for the 
purpose.'" 

Early in the fall the troops on the northern end of New York 
Island went into winter quarters. Von Krafft tells us that the 
winter was the coldest in twenty years. He was stationed in 
Fort Knyphausen, but was often detailed for adlive dut}' at 
Fort Number Eight, and occasionally at Cock Hill Fort on the 
heights south of Spuyten Duyvil, or in Prince Charles Redoubt 
(on Marble Hill) south of King's Bridge. "'"' 

The garrison at Fort Number Eight obtained their fuel from 
the woods back of their redoubt belonging to "a Rebel Colo- 
nel" (Colonel Richard Morris, grandfather of Mr. Lewis G. 
Morris). Major General von Eossberg and other generals 
lodged at his house at this time, in the absence of the family on 
their farm at Scarsdale."" 

On February 2, 1780, Colonel Norton led a party of Hessians 
on a foraging expedition from King's Bridge to White Plains."' 
But the Americans did not leave such ta(5lics to the British 
alone. In January, 1780, they attacked Colonel Hatfield in his 
quarters near the Benj. Archer house. This house, protedled 
by the guns of Fort Number Eight, was at the time the head- 
quarters of Colonel James DeLancey of the Royal Refugee 
Corps and of his notorious "Cow-Boys." '" In May, 1780, 
they were surprised by some Massachusetts troops under Cap- 
tain Cushing, who was guided to the Archer hou.se by Michael 
Dykeman. Forty Briti-sh soldiers were captured, but, fortu- 
natel)'- for him, DeLancey was away at the time.'" 

These skirmishes occurred again in the following winter of 
1 780-1. In January, 1781, the Americans, under General 
Parsons, stole through the outposts at Morrisania and burnt 
DeLancey's camp near Fort Number Eight (presumably on the 
meadow, now the Berkeley Oval). They also cut the cable of 
Holland's Ferry leading to the foot of Laurel Hill, but were 
finally driven back.'" During this year Von Krafft was still 
in camp near Fort Knyphausen, and at regular intervals stood 
guard at Fort Number Eight.'" He also a(5led now and then 
as sentinel on Laurel Hill or on Cock Hill.'" 

This continual raiding by both American and British parties 
brought ruin and desolation to Westchester County. A French 
chaplain, writing from that region, in June, 1781, says:'" "as 



—47— 

we approach towards New York, between the lines of both 
armies, we see more and more of the sorrowful vestiges of war 
and desolation, — the houses plundered, ruined and abandoned 
or burnt '"" 

The most extensive of these raids was undertaken bj' Wash- 
ington himself in the summer of 1781. He was aware that the 
British garrison in New York was weakened by large detach- 
ments being absent on foraging expeditions in New Jersey 
and further south. With some effort, Washington persuaded 
Rochambeau, the commander of the French troops which had 
reached Rhode Island, to join him in Westchester County, 
and menace the fortifications on the island of New York, and 
thereby compel the British to recall their troops from the 
south. The French moved slowly toward the rendezvous via 
Hartford and Newtown, Connecticut. Washington broke 
camp at New Windsor June 26, 1781, and moved to Peeks- 
kill.'" The American army planned to attack Fort George on 
Laurel Hill, while the French, under the Due de Lauzun, 
together with Sheldon's Dragoons and some Continental 
troops under Colonel Waterbury, were to surround and 
capture DeLancej^'s corps, encamped on the opposite bank 
of the river. '"' 

On July 2, 1 78 1, the Americans left Peekskill, and moved 
boldly to Valentine's Hill and the ruins of Fort Independence, 
some British skirmishers under Colonel Emerick retiring before 
them.'^' Here they were attacked by some Hessian troops, 
whom the}^ first drove back towards King's Bridge. It is said 
that General Washington dined at the Van Cortlandt house on 
this occasion. Von Krafit records that the Americans were in 
full view (presumabl)^ from Laurel Hill) at the Van Cortlandt 
house. '^^ Soon after, however, British reinforcements arrived, 
and the Americans had to retire from their position in Fort 
Independence."' 

At the same time the French attack on the cantonments 
below Fort Number Eight was successfully met and repulsed 
by Colonel DeLancey's "Cow-Boys."'" The return of the 
British troops from New Jersey and the appearance of English 
men-of-war in the Hudson off SpU5^ten Duyvil, compelled the 
immediate withdrawal of both armies to Yonkers, where 
Rochambeau joined Washington on July 10, 1781.'°' There 



—48— 

the two armies, numbering about 4,000 men, lay for ten 
days, and then moved southward again, one cohimn moving 
off toward Throg's Neck and Morrisania to forage. The 
other columns were drawn up on the heights back of Fort 
Independence and stretching toward DeLancey's Mills (Bronx- 
dale), Washington fixing his headquarters in Valentine's house 
on Valentine's Hill, presumably the hill still known by that 
name east of Yonkers and north of Woodlawn Cemetery."" 

Those were lively days for the small garrison in Fort Num- 
ber Eight and on Laurel Hill, as the entries in Von Kraflft's 
diary plainly show. They were in constant fear of being 
attacked, and on July 22, 1781, could plainly see the Ameri- 
cans marching over what was formerly Fort Independence and 
the dismantled King's Batterj^ where the gunners on Laurel 
Hill tried to reach them with their cannon. Other columns of 
Americans and a French regiment were seen marching behind 
Fort Number Eight toward Morrisania (Mott Haven), where 
they attacked the British outposts."' Some Hessian Jagers 
were sent across the Harlem River to reinforce the garrison 
at Fort Number Eight, but the Americans and their allies 
soon withdrew to North Castle, after a personal reconnoissance 
of the British works by Rochambeau and Washington, which 
no doubt convinced them that the British garrisons were too 
strong for a direct assault — Abbe Robin thought they num- 
bered 15,000 — and that a siege was out of the question. The 
plan of attacking New York was given up, and the last cam- 
paign of the war — the southern one — was begun, which was 
to bring the revolution to a successful close. ^■" 

The skirmishes about Fort Number Eight continued. In 
January, 1782, the Americans raided Morrisania once more, 
but again they failed to capture Colonel DeLancey.'^'' In the 
following month a similar raid was made, but with a similar 
result.'"" 

In March, 1782, Captain Hunnewell and Major Woodbridge 
led an attack upon DeLancey's camp near the Archer house. 
In General Heath's words:"' "The horse proceeded down 
between the British fort Number Eight and the cantonment of 
DeLancey's corps, and having turned the cantonment between 
daybreak and sunrise (March 4, 1782), they entered pell- 



—49— 

mell." The British were taken completely by surprise. The 
alarm gun at Fort Number Eight was fired, but, before rein- 
forcements could be collected, the Americans had moved oflf 
towards East Chester."""^ Ten days later they turned up at 
Mile Square, on the height east of the Hudson River and north 
of Fort Independence.'"' 

These were the last movements of any importance about 
King's Bridge and Fort Number Eight. Heath records'" that 
the British were demolishing their works at Fort Number 
Eight on November 20, 1782. The earthworks were still dis- 
tinctly visible when the house now standing on the site of the 
fort was built in 1857. 

Peace was assured at the end of 1782, but the other works 
were left garrisoned till the following year. In Julj^ 1783, the 
embarkation of British troops for England and Nova Scotia 
began;'" but not till November of that year were the British and 
Hessian troops withdrawn from the northern end of the island of 
New York.'"" Of these, parts of the following regiments had 
probably been at one time or another during the past seven 
years stationed at Fort Number Eight, as is shown by the 
buttons brought to light in digging on the site of the fort in 

1857: 

8th Regiment. 

17th Regiment, in June, 1781, encamped below Cock Hill. 
Sent to Nova Scotia, 1783.'" 

33d Regiment, commanded by I^ord Cornwallis, assisted at 
the assault on I^aurel Hill, 1776. Sent to Nova Scotia, 1783.''' 

37th Regiment English Musketeers, commanded by Sir Eyre 
Coote, August 1 78 1, encamped east of McGowan's Pass. Sent 
to Nova Scotia, 1783."" 

38th Regiment. Returned to England, 1783."° 

45th Regiment, 

"R. P." "Erbprinz" Regiment (?) 

74th Regiment. Returned to England, 1783.'" 

76th Scotch Regiment. In November, 1780, stationed at 
Prince Charles Redoubt, King's Bridge. Transferred to 
Laurel Hill a month later. Returned to England, 1783.'" 

By November 25, 1783, all British troops had left New 
York, and General Knox with a detachment of American 



—50— 

troops crossed King's Bridge and entered the city,'" the first 
to do so since the hasty evacuation by Washington seven years 
before. 

Peace had been practically established since the spring of 
1783, and the Archers and other Westchester farmers could 
now resume their peaceful vocations, and were rid for all time 
of their unwelcome guests. 



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NOTES. 

1. Abstradl of Titles; Bolton. Westchester, II, 319, 328, 401 ; Scharf, 

Westchester County, I, 18, 33. 

2. Ibid., 23, 66-7; Bolton, Westchester, II, 320, 406; Edsall, Histor}' 

King's Bridge, 63-5 ; Abstradl of Titles. 

3. Scharf, Westchester County, I, 24, 66, 68, 70-1, 744; Edsall, History 

King's Bridge, 4. 

4. Ibid., 7, 63-7; Abstradl of Titles; Bolton, Westchester, II, 320; 

Scharf, Westchester County, I, 24, 71-2. 

5. Bolton, Westchester, II, 319, 401; Abstradl of Titles ; Scharf, West- 

chester County, I, 72, 96, 160. 

6. Bolton, Westchester, II, 328-29. 

7. Abstradl of Titles ; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 778; Bolton, West- 

chester, II, 323. 

8. Ibid., II, 324; Abstradl of Titles. 

9. Ibid.; Bolton, Westchester, II, 332; Smith, History N. Y., 196; 

Scharf, Westchester County, I, 756, 

10. Abstradl of Titles ; Bolton, Westchester, II, 328 ; Indenture, Oct. 

14th, 1766, Schwab Estate, Papers. 

11. Bolton, Westchester, II, 32S, 333. 

12. Bolton, Westchester, II, 328 ; Abstradl of Titles ; Indenture Feb. 

13th, 1769; ditto, April 12th, 1786, Schwab Estate, Papers. 

13. Will Benjamin Archer, Schwab Estate, Papers; Abstradl of Titles. 

14. Ibid,, Deeds March 17th, 1857, Schwab Estate, Papers. 

15. Dawson, Westchester, 120; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 248-9, 

255- 

16. N. Y. during Am. Revolution, 120-37. 

17. Scharf, Westchester County, I, 280; Doc's Colon. History N. Y., 

I. 135, 146, 169, 1306. 

18. Ibid., I, 146; Dawson, Westchester, 103; Scharf, Westchester Count}% 

I, 278. 

19. N. Y. during Am. Revolution, 120. 

20. Wilson, History N. Y., TI, 497, 500; N. Y. during Am. Revolution, 

80 ; Webb, Reminiscenses, 38. 

21. N. Y. during Am. Revolution, 97; compare Scharf, Westchester 

County, I, 340. 

22. N. Y. during Am. Revolution, 29; Drake, Dict'y Am. Biogr., 262; 

Sabine, Loyalists, 363-5 ; I,ossing, Field-Book, II, 624. 

23. Irving, Washington, II, 364 ; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 624 ; Drake, 

Dict'y Am. Biogr., 262; N. Y. during Am. Revolution, 157-158; 
Sabine, Loyalists, 366. 

24. Irving, Washington, IV, 296 ; Lossing, Field-Book, I, 753 (note), II, 

624 ; Drake, Dict'y Am. Biogr., 262 ; Sabine, Loyalists, 369-70. 



— 5G— 

25- Simcoe, Journal, 17; Irving, Washington, II, 365-6; Wilson, History 

N. v.. II, 50S. 

26. Valentine's Manual for 1870, S05. 

27. Wilson, History N. Y., II, 469. 

28. Ibid., II, 473, 475; Mag. Am. History, III, 150, 152 (1879), 

29. Wilson, History N. Y., II, 476. 

30. Ibid., II, 500; N. V. during Am. Revolution, 14; Montresor, Plan 

N. Y. City. 

31. Smith, History N. Y., 196; compare Scharf, Westchester County, 

I, 3t>-i. 

32. Barber, Hist. Coll'ns, N. Y., 356. 
^T,. Lossing, Field-Book, II, 588. 

34. Bolton, Westchester, II, 443-4. 

35. Scharf, Westchester County, I, 800-1 ; Maps in N. Y. Historical 

Society ; Carrington, Battle-Maps Am. Revolution, 20; Lossing 
Field-Book, II, 618; Wilson, History N. Y., II, 488, 523, 525; 
Valentine's Manual for 1854,548, for 1859, 120, for 1861,428; 
Mag. Am. History I, 2, 65 (1877); IV, 293, 304 (1880); Stedman, 
History Am. War, I, 210, 214; N. Y. during Am. Revolution; 
Campaign of 1776, appendix; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 402, 
414. 

36. Valentine's Manual for 1S54, 362; for 1868, 812. 

37. Ibid., for 1857, 208; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 472J. 

38. Valentine's Manual for 1861. 

39. Heath, Memoirs, 43 ; Lee Papers, I, 21S. 

40. N. Y. during the Am. Revolution, 88. 

41. Ibid., 105. 

42. Lee Papers, I, 235; compare Scharf, Westchester Count}', I, 324 & ss. 

43. Ibid., I, 240, 268. 

44. Ibid., I, 243; compare Scharf, Westchester County, I, 320-2. 

45. N. Y. during Am. Revolution, I, 250, 259, 263. 

46. Ibid., I, 337 ; N. Y. during Am. Revolution, 85-6. 

47. Lee Papers, I, 272, 279, 354, 356. 

48. Ibid., I, 337. 

49. Heath, Memoirs, 52. 

50. Lee Papers, I, 260, 322, 333-4, 337 ; Jones, History N. Y., I, 82-3. 

51. Heath, Memoirs, 44, 46; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 330. 

52. Lee Papers, I, 268; Wilson, History N. Y., II, 495. 

53. Conn. Gazette, July 12, 1776; Delancey, Mount Washington, 69; 

Graydon, Memoirs, 151. 

54. Penna. Archives, 2d Scries, X, 103; Graydon, Memoirs, 178. 

55. DeLanccy, Mount Washington, 69. 

56. Penna. Archives, 2d Series, X, 156. 

57. Graydon, Memoirs. 145, 147-8; Penna. Archives, 2d Series, X, 103. 

58. Ibid., X, 103; Delancey, Mount Washington, 70. 

59. Graydon, Memoirs, 177. 

60. Heath, Memoirs, 47. 

61. Wilson, History N. Y., II, 500-1; Glover, Memoir, u ; How, Diary, 

23, 26. 



—57— 

62. Conn. Gazette, Aug. 23, 1776; Wilson, History N. Y., II, 500-1. 

63. Lee Papers, I, 147. 

64. DeLancey, Mount Washington, 66 ; Fisher, Silliman, I, 4. 

65. N. Y. during Am. Revolution, 103. 

66. Ibid., 71. 

67. Ibid., 71 (note). 

68. Ibid., 71. 

69. Dawson, Westchester, 153 ; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 329. 

70. DeLancey, Mount Washington, 68; Allen, Am. Revolution, I, 484. 

71. Penna. Archives, 2d Series, X, 103 ; DeLancey, Mount Washington, 

69; Heath, Memoirs, 52; Graydon, Memoirs, 148-9. 

72. DeLancey, Mount Washington, 70. 

73. Graydon, Memoirs, 178, 183. 

74. Lossing, Field-Book, II, 610 ; Carrington, Battles Am. Revolution, 

248. 

75. Ibid., 248; Lossiug, Field-Book, II, 610; Graydon, Memoirs, 191. 

76. Lossing, Field-Book, II, 610. 

77. Edsall, History King's Bridge, 26, 29, 30 ; Scharf, Westchester 

County, I, II, 752-3. 

78. Heath, Memoirs, 52 ; Edsall, History King's Bridge, 29, 30; Irving, 

Washington (1855), II, 233, 276. 

79. Calendar Hist. MSS. Revn., II, 365-6. 

80. Heath, Memoirs, 47, 49; Graydon, Memoirs, 150 ; Carrington, Battles 

Revolution, 243 ; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 383-4. 

81. Heath, Memoirs, 44. 

82. Ibid., 47-8; N. Y. during the Am. Revolution, 99; Lee Papers, I, 32. 

83. Wilson, History N. Y,, II, 496; N. Y. during Am. Revolution, 102 ; 

Lamb, Journal, 116; Lee Papers, I, 168. 

84. Coghlan, Memoirs, 143 ; DeLancey, Mount Washington, 65. 

85. Wilson, History N. Y., II, 507. 

86. Stedman, History Am. War, I, 205 ; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 

399-400. 

87. Wilson, History N. Y., II, 507; Heath, Memoirs, 55 ; Dawson, Battle 

Harlem Plains, 804. 

88. Am. Archives, 5th Series, I, 1489. 

89. Ibid., 1502. 

90. Heath, Memoirs, 53-4. 

91. Lossing, Field-Book, II, 614; Carrington, Battles Am. Revolution, 

221 ; Am. Archives, 5th Series, I, 1121-2. 

92. Heath, Memoirs, 7, 10, 43, 46. 

93. Am. Archives, 5th Series, I, 200; Heath, Memoirs, 56 ; Tallmadge, 

Memoir, 9 ; Impartial History War, 338. 

94. Heath, Memoirs, 57 ; Lamb, Journal, 125 ; Dawson, Battle Harlem 

Plains, 805. 

95. Heath, Memoirs, 57. 

96. Ibid., 58. 

97. Graydon, Memoirs, 170-1 ; How, Diary, 27. 

98. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, io6, 257, 259 ; Carrington, Battles Am. 

Revolution, 221. 



—58— 

99- Il>i<l-, 220. 

100. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 140. 
loi. Heath, ^Memoirs, 5S. 

102. Graydon, Memoirs, 171. 

103. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 236-7. 

104. Heath, Memoirs, 58. 

105. Ibid., 58. 

106. Ibid., 56; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 395. 

107. Am. Archives, 5th Series, I, 1262. 
loS. Couu. Gazette, Sept. 20, 1776. 

109. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 244; Heath, Memoirs, 59; N. Y. during 

Am. Revolution, 106. 
no. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 274, 290; Heath, Memoirs, 59; Allen, 

Am. Revolution, I, 484 ; Wilson, History N. Y., II, 516. 

111. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 267; Graydon, Memoirs, 171. 

112. Nash, Journal, 32. 

113. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 290. 

114. Ibid., II, 699; Heath, Memoirs, 59; Lossiug, FieM-Book, 11,609; 

N. Y. during Am. Revolution, 106. 

115. Carriugton, Battles Am. Revolution, 224. 

116. Nash, Journal, 33. 

117. Heath, Memoirs, 60. 

118. Jay, Battle Harlem Plains, 20; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 609. 

119. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II. 299, 352; Allen, Am. Revolution, I, 

4S4-6 ; Mag. Am. History, VIII, 40 (1882) ; Marshall, Diary, 105; 
Impartial History War, 347 ; Burke, History War, 217; Andrews, 
History W^ar, 240 ; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 610; N. Y. during 
Am. Revolution, in; Jones, History N. Y., I, 120; Wilson, History 
N. Y., II, 516. 

120. Heath, Memoirs, 60 ; How, Diary, 28 ; Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 

699; Mag. Am. History, VIII, 40 (1882); Dawson, Battle Harlem 
Plains, 805 ; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 310. 

121. Allen, History Am. Rev., I, 487; Dawson, Battle Harlem Plains, S06. 

122. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 379 ; Jay, Battle Harlem Plains, 20; 

Gordon, History War, I, 192; Burke, History War, 218; Dawson, 
Battle Harlem Plains, 807. 

123. Jay, Battle Harlem Plains, 20. 

124. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 379; Dawson, Battle Harlem Plains, 807. 

125. Heath, Memoirs, 60 ; Dawson, Battle Harlem Plains, 807 -S ; Nash, 

Journal, 34; DeLancey, Movmt Washington, 75; N. Y. during Am. 
Revolution, 112. 

126. How, Diary, 29. 

127. Dawson, Battle Harlem Plains, map and 807-8. 

128. Ibid., 80S. 

129. Ibid., 809-11. 

130. Allen, History War, 4S8 ; Evidence, Am. War, 21. 

131. Burke, History Am. Rev., 21S; Mag. Am. Historj-, VIII, 44 (1S82), 

(Gen. Clinton to New York Convention.) 



—59— 

132. Impartial History War, 348; Andrews, History War, II, 241. 

133. Hall, History War, I, 202 ; Eddis, Letters from Am., 331. 

134. N. Y. during Am. Revolution, 109. 

135. Heath, Memories, 62. 

136. Ibid., 61-2 ; How, Diary, 31. 

137. Ibid., 62. 

138. Glover, Memoir, 15, 17; How, Diar}', 29. 

139. Heatli, Memoirs, 63. 

140. Penna. Archives, V, 27; Wilson, History N. Y., II, 515. 

141. Conn. Gazette, May, 1776, et passim : (Advertisements of deserters). 

142. Am. Archives, 5th Series, I, 1237. 

143. Graydon, Memoirs, 172. 

144. Am. Archives, 5th Series, I, 1272. 

145. Heath, Memoirs, 63 ; Burke, History War, 218 ; Ilildreth, History 

U. S., HI, 153. 

146. Heath, Memoirs, 63-6; Glover, Memoir, 17; How, Diary, 29; Daw- 

son, Westchester, 220; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 396. 

147. How, Diary, 29. 

148. Nash, Journal, 38. 

149. Heath, Memoirs, 67-8. 

150. Ibid., 67; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 408. 

151. Webb, Correspondence, 169. 

152. Am. Archives, 5th Series, 11, 1188, III, 921-2; Heath, Memoirs, 70; 

Marshall, Extracts from Diary, 497 ; Impartial History War, 349; 
Johnston, Campaign 1776, 265; Wilson, History N. Y., II, 521 ; 
Dawson, Westchester, 231; Fiske, Am. Revolution, I, 217; Scharf, 
Westchester County, I, 406-7. 

153. Anderson, History War, II, 243. 

154. Carrington, Battles Am. Revolution, 234; Burke, History War, 219: 

Hall, History War, I, 206; Allen, History Am. Revolution, I, 511. 

155. Hall, History War, I, 203 ; Ewlence Am. War, 21 ; Irving, Washing- 

ton (1855), II, 377; DeLance}', Mount Washington, 72-3. 

156. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 921-2; Heath, Memoirs, 71; Burke, 

History War, 220; Dawson, Westchester, 240; Evidence Am. War, 
22-3. 

157. Heath, Memoirs, 70 ; Scharf, Westchester Count}', I, 408. 

158. Nash, Journal, 37. 

159. How, Diary, 33. 

160. Heath, Memoirs, 71. 

161. Ibid., 71. 

162. Ibid., 71 ; How, Diarj', 33. 

163. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 1130, 1167; HI, 921-2; Heath, Memoirs, 

72; Nash, Journal, 37; How, Diary, 33; Stedman, History War, I, 
211 : Allen, History Am. Rev., I, 511 ; Wilson, History N. Y., II, 
521 ; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 417-19. 

164. Heath, Memoirs, 72-3 ; How, Diary, 33. 

165. Heath, Memoirs, 73. 

166. Ibid., 66. 



—60— 

167. Ibid., 73; Lamb, Journal, 126; Lee Papers, IV, 288; Irving, Wash- 
ington (iS5.5\ II, 399; Lossing, I-iekl-Book, II, 615; Carrington, 
Battles Am. Revolution, 237 ; Scliarf, Westchester County, I, 413. 

16S. Lee Papers. II, 283, 2SS. 

169. Ibid., II, 203. 

170. Ibid., II, 477. 

171. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 1096-7, 1130; Conn. Gazette, Nov. 

15. 1776. 

172. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 1130. 

173. Ibid., II, 1 130; Heath, Memoirs, 73. 

174. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 922; Nash, Journal, 38; Conn. Journal, 

Oct., 1776, also Nov. 6th, 1776; Burke, History War, 221; 
Andrews, History War, II, 244 ; Allen, History Am. Revolution, 
I, 512. 

175. Heath, Memoirs, 73. 

176. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 1130; Warren, Historv Am. Revolution; 

I, 326. 

177. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 1130, III, 922 ; Heath, Jlcmoirs, 73, 79 : 

Adam, Present Administration, 24 ; DeLancey, Mount Washing- 
ton, 75. 

178. Heath, Memoirs, 79; Allen, History Am. Rev., I, 511. 

179. Carrington, Battles Am. Rev., 242 ; Greene, Greene, I, 248 ; Davvson, 

Westchester, 257. 

180. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 1294. (Gen. Greene to Gen. Washing- 

ton, Oct. 31, 1776); Sparks, Correspondence, I, 299; Greene, 
Greene, I, 250. 
i8r. Am. Archives, 5th Series, II, 1167; Allen, History Am. Rev., I, 512. 

182. Calendar Hist. MSS. Revolution, 1,518. 

183. Am. Archives, 5th Scries, II, 1221 ; 111,922; Conn. Gazette, Nov. 

15. 1776; Andrews, History War, II, 245; Allen, History Am. 
Revolution, I, 513. 

184. Ibid., I, 513. 

1S5. Ellet, Am. Revolution, chap. VI, sSetss.; Conn. Gazette, Nov. 15, 
1776 ; Dawson, Westchester, 239. 

186. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 922; How, Diary, 35; Impartial His- 

tory War, 351- ; Burke, History War, 222; Calendar Hist. MSS. 
Revolution, I, 532 ; Tallmadge, INIemoir, 13 ; Andrews, History 
War, II, 245 ; Allen, History Am. Rev., I, 517 ; Histoire Troubles 
Am. Ang., I, 344; Carrington, Battles Am. Revolution, 239; 
Dawson, Westchester, 260; Wilson, History N. Y., II, 521. 

187. Burke, History War, 224; Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 922; Tall- 

madge, Memoir, 15 ; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 617 ; Scharf, West- 
chester County, I, 450. 

188. Hall, History War, I, 210. 

189. Post, Recollections, 34. 

190. Wilson, History N. Y., II, 509; Coghlan, Memoirs, 150. 

191. Watson, Hist. Tales, 192; Rosengarten, German Allied Troops, 

frontispiece; Hall, History War, I, 211. 



— Gl— 

192. Lossing, Field-Book, I, 321 ; Rosengarten, German Allied Troops, 

189, 232. 

193. Ibid., 23-4; Werthern, Hessische Hiilfstruppen, 12. 

194. Stone, Letters Brunswick and Hessian Officers, 188. 

195. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 922; Lowell, Hessians in Rev., 75 ; 

Rosengarten, German Allied Troops, 45. 

196. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 922 ; N. Y. Gazette & Weekly Mer- 

cury, Oct. 28, 1776. 

197. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 922 ; The Remembrancer for 1776, III, 

202. 

198. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 922, 924 ; Murray, History War, II, 

180; Hall, History War, I, 211; Allen, History Am. Revolution, 
I, 519; Burke, History War, 225 ; Carrington, Battles Am. Revo- 
lution, 242; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 619; Sparks, Correspond- 
ence, I, 302. 

199. Rosengarten, German Allied Troops, 50. 

200. The Remembrancer for 1776, HI, 202 ; Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 

922. 

201. Ibid., HI, 547, 922 ; How, Diary, 36 ; The Remembrancer for 1776, 

III, 202; Heath, Memoirs, 84; Allen, History Am. Rev., I, 517; 
Carrington, Battles Revolution, 242; Scharf, Westchester County, 

I, 453- 

202. Burke, History War, 224; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 617; DeLancey, 

Mount Washington, 77 ; Tallmadge, Memoir, 15 ; Evidence Am. 
War, 69 ; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 452. 

203. Stedman, History Am. War, I. 216. 

204. Am. Archives, 5th Series, HI, 559, (Colonel Huntington to Gov. 

Trumbull, Nov. 7, 1776) ; Sparks, Correspondence, I, 302. 

205. Heath, Memoirs, 83 ; Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 556. 

206. Evidence Am. War, 186. 

207. Avery, Sermon, 1777. 

208. Am. Archives, 5th Series, HI, 541, 556, 837. 

209. Ibid., Ill, 619. 

210. Ibid., Ill, 556, 924 ; The Remembrancer for 1776, III, 202; Scharf, 

Westchester County, I, 453. 

211. Greene, Greene, I, 261. 

212. Moore, Diary, 341-3. 

213. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 653, 674, 924; Nash, Journal, 40; Moore, 

Diary, 44; Hall, History War, I, 212 ; Andrews, History War, II, 
247 ; Lee Papers, I, 273. 

214. Am. Archives, 5th Series, HI, 924; Heath, Memoirs, 85; The Remem- 

brancer for 1776, III, 202; Burke, History War, 225; Scharf, West- 
chester County, I, 454. 

215. Am. Archives, 5th Series, HI, 924; The Remembrancer for 1776, HI, 

202; Dawson, Westchester, 278. 

216. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 924; The Remembrancer for 1776, HI, 

202; Tomes, Battles Am., 386; Carrington, Battle Maps Revolution, 
20; Carrington, Battles Am. Revolution, 249. 



—62— 

217- Am. Archivfs, 5th Series, III, 924; Graydon, Memoirs, 18S; Marshall, 
W'asliiiititoii, II, 513; Jones, History N. Y., 632(11010); Kdsall, 
History King's Bridge, 31 ; Impartial History War, 354 ; Burke, 
History War, 226; Johnson, Greene, 62; Bolton, Westchester, 336; 
Irving, Washington, II, 420; Stcdman, History Am. War, I, 210; 
Lossing, Field-Book, II, 624; Carriugton, Battles Revolution, 248; 
Carriugton, Battle Maps Rev., 20; Mag. Am. History I, 65 (1877); 
IV, 293, 304 (iSSo). 

218. Graydon, Memoirs, 19S. 

219. Stedman, History War, I, 216-7 '< Bancroft, History U. S., IX, 1S9. 

220. Ibid., IX, 1 89; Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 706-7 ; The Remem- 

brancer for 1776, III, 203. 

221. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 924; Mag. Am, History, I, 65 (1877). 

222. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 924; The Remembrancer for 1776, III, 

203; Hall, History War, 214; Burke, History War, 225-6; Carring- 
ton, Battles Revolution, 248; Carriugton, Battle Maps Revolution, 
20; Wilson, Histor)- N. Y., II, 488, 509, 525; Valentine's Manual for 
1854, 548, for 1859, foi' 1861, 120; Stedman, History War, I, 210, 
214; DeLance}-, Mount Washington, 65; Mag. Am. History, IV, 
2, 293, 304 (1880). 

223. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 924 ; Burke, History War, 226-7 ; Har- 

rington, Battles Revolution, 248. 

224. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 924. 

225. Carriugton, Battles Revolution, 249. 

226. Am. Archives, 5th Scries, III, 548 ; Sparks, Correspondence, 29S. 

227. Penna. Archives, 2d Series, X, 103, 565. 

228. Penna. Archives, 2d Series, X, 140-1. 

229. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 706-7; Graydon, Memoirs, 17S. 

230. Carrington, Battles Revolution, 243; Drake, Dict'y. Am. Biogr., 592; 

Magaw & Ft. Washington, 304 ; DeLancey, Mount Washington, 
69; Penna. Archives, 2d Series, X, 142; Minutes Provincial Coun- 
cil Penna., X, 124, 442-3, 490. 

231. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 693; Graydon, Memoirs, 194. 

232. Ibid., 189, 199; Johnson, Greene, 61, 63; Irving, Washington, II, 420; 

Lossing, Field-Book, II, 610, 620. 

233. Carrington, Battles Revolution, 248. 

234. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 674; Lamb, Journal, 126. 

235. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 793 ; Greene, Greene, I, 263. 

236. Carriugton, Battles Revolution, 243; Ruttenber, Obstructions Hud- 

son, 38, 50, 51. 

237. Am. Archives, 5th Scries, II, 236-7 ; Nash, Journal, 36 ; Heath, 

Memoirs, 68. 

238. Nash, Journal, 37. 

239. Lee Papers, II, 289. 

240. Carrington, Battles Revolution, 249. 

241. Graydon, Memoirs, 219; (quoted in note by E. F. DeLancey in Jones, 

History N. Y., I, 629-630; also in LitteU's edition, 215.) 

242. DeLancey, Mount Washington, 80; the same, note in Jones, History 

N. Y., I, 630-r. 



—63— 

243- Jones, Historj' N. Y., I, 631, note. 

244. Lamb, History N. Y., II, 142; Johnston, Campaign 1776, 281 ; Wil- 

son, History N. Y., II, 522, note. 

245. Jones, History N. Y., I, 632, note; Penua. Archives, 2d Scries, X, 145. 

246. Ibid., 140, 142 ; Minutes Provincial Council Penua. X, 499. 

247. Penna. Archives, 2d Series, X, 141. 

248. Jones, History N. Y., I, 628-9. 

249. DeLancey, Mount Washington, 77-9. 

250. Wilson, History N. Y., II, 522, note. 

251. Coll'ns N. Y. Hist. Soc, 1883, 512. 

252. Jones, History N. Y., I, 626, note. 

253. Original material : Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 706-7, 793, 924-5 ; 

Graydon, Memoirs, 200-9 ; The Remembrancer for 1776, III, 
203 ; Eddis, Letters, 336-7; Moore, Diary, 345 ; Conn. Gazette, 
Nov. 29, 1776; Heath, Memoirs, 85; Dunlap, History N. Y., 
II, 79-88 ; Penna. Archives, 2d Series, X, 105 ; Lee Papers, II, 
279 (Gen. Washington to Gen. Lee, Nov. 16, 1776); II, 284. 
Based on original material : Johnston, Campaign 1776, 276-; 
Carrington, Battle Maps Revolution, 20; Carrington, Battles 
Revolution, 250; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 620-; DeLancey, Mount 
Washington, 82-; Lowell, Hessians in Rev. War, 79-; Full 
accounts: Lamb, Journal, 128; Gordon, History War, I, 197; 
Hall, History War, I, 215-; Andrews, History War, II, 248; Sted- 
man. History Am. War, I, 217-; Marshall, Washington, II, 514-; 
Ramsa)-, History Am. Revolution, II, 309 ; Smith, Historj^ U. S., 

II, 135 ; Tomes, Battles Am., 385-; Botta, Storia della Guerra, II, 
393 ; Allen, History Am. Revolution, I, 520-; Macaulay, History 
N. Y., Ill, 153-; Sparks, Washington, 199-; Bancroft, Washing- 
ton, I, 118-; Irving, W^ashington, II, 419-; Histoire des troubles 
Am. Aug., I, 349-; Booth, History N. Y., 507-; Lamb, History 
N. Y., II, 142-; Wilson, History N. Y., II, 524-; Impartial History 
War, 354-; Meagre Accounts: Warren, History N. Y., I, 333; 
Fiske, Revolution, I, 220; Jones, History N. Y., I, 124-; Werth- 
ern, Hessische Hiilfstruppen, 17-. 

254. Graydon, Memoirs, 199. 

255. Ibid., 194. 

256. Ibid., 193. 

257. Ibid., 195. 

258. Carrington, Battle Maps Am. Rev., 20 ; The Remembrancer for 1776, 

III, 203 ; Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 924. 

259. Heath, Memoirs, 85 ; Am. Archives, 5th Series, HI, 707. 

260. Bancroft, Historj- U. S., IX, 190. 

261. Rosengarten, German Allied Troops, 51. 

262. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 751, 765, 925; Graydon, Memoirs, 197, 

201 ; Hall, History War, I, 214; Allen, History Am. Rev., I, 522; 
Carrington, Battle Maps Am. Rev., 20 ; N. Y. Gazette & Weekly 
Mercury, Nov. 25, 1776. 

263. Am. Archives, 5th Series, HI, 925 ; Carrington, Battles Revolution, 

250. 



—64— 

264. Uolton, Westchester, II, 337. 

265. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 707 ; Bancroft, History U. S., IX, 191; 

The Rcnieuibrancer for 1776, III, 203; Tonics, Battles Am., 390; 
Burke, History War, 225 ; Stedman, History War, I, 218; Lamb 
Journal, 128; Allen, History Am. Rev., 1,521; I.ossing, Field- 
Book, II, 620. 

266. Gra}'don, Memoirs, 203. 

267. Heath, Memoirs, 85. 

268. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 92.4. 

269. Lossinj?, Field-Book, II, 621. 

270. Carringtou, Battles Am. Rev., 250. 

271. DcLancey, Mount Washington, 87. 

272. Johnston, Greene, I, 63. 

273. Gordon, History W^ar, I, 198; Impartial Historj' War, 355. 

274. Murray, Historj' War, II, 181. 

275. Graydon, Memoirs, 201; Hall, History W'ar, I, 215; Burke, History 

War, 226-7; Carrington, Battles Rev., 250; DcLancej-, Mount 
Washington, 87. 

276. Am. Archives, 5th Series, HI, 924; Graydon, Memoirs, 196; Allen, 

History Am. Rev., I, 521-2, 524 ; Carrington, Battle Maps Am. 
Rev., 20. 

277. Conn. Gazette, Nov. 29, 1776. 

27S. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 924; Heath, Memoirs, 85 ; Allen, His- 
tory Am. Rev., I, 522; Carringtou, Battle Maps Rev., 250. 

279. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 707. 

280. Irving, Washington, II, 423. 

281. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 311; Heath, Memoirs, 85; The Re- 

membrancer for 1776, HI, 204; Tallmadge, Memoir, 15; Conn. 
Gazette, Nov. 29, 1776; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 621; Penna. 
Archives, 2d Series, X, 105 ; Lee Papers, I, 279 (Washington to 
Lee, Nov. 16, 1776). 

282. Francis, Washington, 77 (note) ; Sparks, Am. Biogr., 2d Series, X, 

44. 

283. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 311. 

284. Ibid., Ill, S55-6. 
2S5. Ibid., HI, 1058. 

286. Graydon, Memoirs, 208-9. 

287. Rosengarten, German Allied Troops, 52 ; Carrington, Battle Maps 

Rev., 20. 

288. Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 730. 

289. Marshall, Extracts Diary, 104; Marshall, Diary, 117. 

290. How, Diarj-, 36. 

291. Conn. Journal, Nov. 20, 1776. 

292. Ibid., Nov. 27, 1776. 

293. Curwen, Journal, 100. 

294. Magaw and Fort Washington, 504. 

295. Am. Archives, 5th Series, HI, S55-6. 

296. N. Y. Gazette & Weekly Mercury, Nov. 25, 1776. 



—65- 

297- Am. Archives, 5th Series, III, 751. 

298. Ibid., Ill, 856 ; Lee Papers, II, 315. 

299. Heath, Memoirs, 103; Calendar Hist. MSS. Rev., I, 670; Carring- 

ton, Battle Maps Rev., 20; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 620. 

300. Moore, Diar^^ 378-9; Irving, Washington (1883), IV, 8, 109, 273; 

Post, Recollections, 55 ; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 624. 

301. Heath, Memoirs, 103-8; Moore, Diary, 400; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 

624-5. 

302. Lossing, Field-Book, II, 623 ; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 753-4 ; 

Heatli, Memoirs, 109. 

303. Ibid., 1 10-2. 

304. Ibid., 113 ; Edsall, History King's Bridge, 33. 

305. Heath, Memoirs, 115. 

306. Lossing, Field-Book, I, 762 (note). 

307. Simcoe, Journal, 76-80. 

30S. Ibid., 79; Bolton, Westchester, II, 445. 

309. Simcoe, Journal, 101-2. 

310. Ibid., 74-5 ; Rosengarten, German Allied Troops, 159. 

311. Simcoe, Journal, 83, 105 ; Von KrafFt, Journal, 57. 

312. Simcoe, Journal, 74. 

313. Ibid., 88; Rosengarten, German Allied Troops, 160. 

314. Lee Papers, I, 11. 

315. Simcoe, Journal, 80-6 ; Scharf, Westchester County, I, 755. 

316. Watson, Annals, N. Y., 328 ; Von Krafft, Journal, x-xi. 

317. Ibid., 52-4. 

318. Ibid., 54. 

319. Ibid., 54. 

320. Ibid., 56-8. 

321. Ibid., 60. 

322. Ibid., 64-5. 

323. Ibid., 65-8. 

324. Ibid., 69, 72. 

325. Ibid., 73. 

326. Ibid., 75, 78, 80, 82, 84. 

327. Ibid., 201 (plate VI) ; Wilson, History N. Y., II, 525; Valentine, 

Manual for 1854, 548. 
32S. Von Krafft, Journal, 74; Rosengarten, German Allied Troops, 171. 

329. Simcoe, Journal, 93, loi. 

330. Heath, Memoirs, 214; Penna. Archives, VII, 636; Von Krafft, Jour- 

nal, 90. 

331. Polit. Mag. &. Pari. Journal, 1781, 658. 

332. Edsall, History King's Bridge, 30-1 ; Von Kraflft, Journal, 93-4. 

333. Ibid., 94. 

334. Edsall, History King's Bridge, 658. 

335. Polit. Mag. & Pari. Journal, 1781, 657-8. 

336. Heath, Memoirs, 223. 

337. Ibid., 215, 223. 

338. Von Kraflft, Joiurnal, 96. 



— ()G— 

339. Ibid., 103, 122-5. 

340. Ibid., 123. 

341. Irving, Washington (1.SS3), IV, S. 

342. Lossing, Field-Book, II, 624; Bolton, Westchester, II, 336. 

343. Ibid., II, 333; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 624; Irving, Wa.shinglon 

(1S83), IV, 273. 

344. Bolton, Westchester, 11,334; Heath, Memoirs, 272; Moore, Diary, 

905^9 ! Von KrafTt, Journal, 130. 

345. Ibid., 129-33, 140, 143, 146, 14S, 150. 

346. Ibid., 143, 151, 190. 

347. Robin, Travels, 2S. 

34S. Compare Irving, Washington (1S83), IV, 8, 109. 

349. Stevens, Allied Armies, 2-4 ; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 625-6 ; Irving, 

Washington, IV, 306; Marshall, Washington, I, 445-6; Elanchard, 
Journal, 109, in ; N. Y. during Am. Rev., 177. 

350. Stevens, Allied Armies, 6; N. Y. during Am. Rev., 177; Lossing, 

Field-Book, II, 626. 

351. Moore, Diary, 979; Lowell, Hessians in Rev. War, 260. 

352. Von KrafFt, Journal, 142-3; Lossing, Field-Book, II, 623. 

353. Blanchard, Journal, 119, 121; N. Y. during Am. Rev., 180; Moore, 

Diary, 980-1 ; Lowell, Hessians in Rev. War, 261 ; Stevens, Allied 
Armies, 7-9 ; Edsall, History King's Bridge, 41. 

354. Stevens, Allied Armies, 9 ; Sabine, Loyalists, I, 370. 

355. Blanchard, Journal, 120; Stevens, Allied Armies, 10; Lossing, Field- 

Book, II, 626 ; Robin, Travels, 30. 

356. Stevens, Allied Armies, 23 ; Von KrafFt, Journal, 143 ; N. Y. during 

Am. Rev., iSi. 

357. Von Kraffl, Journal, 143, 145; Blanchard, Journal, 123. 

358. Ibid., 120, 127 ; N. Y. during Am. Rev., 1S2 ; Stevens, Allied Armies, 

24; Robin, Travels, 33, 36; Heath, Memoirs, 295. 

359. Ibid., 326. 

360. Ibid., 329. 

361. Ibid., 329. 

362. Bolton, Westchester, II, 334 ; Lo.ssing, Field-Book, II, 624. 

363. Heath, Memoirs, 331. 

364. Ibid., 357 ; Bolton, Westchester, II, 337. 

365. Von KrafFt, Journal, 190; N. Y. during Am. Rev., 141. 

366. Wilson, History N. Y., II, 554 ; Irving, Washington, IV, 438 ; Post, 

Recollections, 55 ; N. Y. City during Am. Rev., 157-. 

367. Von KrafFt, Journal, 126, 132, 190; Valentine's Manual For 1870, S04. 
36S. Von KrafFt, Journal, 190; Valentine's Manual For 1870, 804. 

369. Von KrafFt, Journal, 95, 148, 190; Valentine, Manual For 1870, 804. 

370. Ibid., 804; Von Krafft, Journal, 126, 139, 147, 190. 

371. Ibid., 190; Valentine, INIanual For 1870, 804. 

372. Ibid., 804; Von KrafFt, Journal, 124-5. 

373. Hildreth, History U. S., Ill, 441. 



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